PubMed · 2026-03-26
Scientists analyzed DNA data from 151 studies to figure out how well genetic markers can tell plant species apart. They found that a surprisingly small number of carefully chosen DNA markers can distinguish species just as accurately as scanning hundreds of genes.
70.2% of the 1,713 plant species analyzed formed clean, distinct genetic groups — confirming most species have a traceable DNA identity.
89.2% of species had at least one unique DNA marker (species-specific SNP), with a median density of 193 such markers per million DNA letters.
Only ~3,000 randomly selected genetic variants are needed to reach maximum species-identification accuracy, and as few as 1–9 pre-selected markers can match the performance of hundreds of loci.