Advances in Molecular Methods for Authentication of Phototrophs and their Bioproducts

The authentication of phototrophs and their derived products has become critical for food security, consumer safety, biodiversity protection, and regulatory compliance. Products derived from plants, algae, and other photosynthetic organisms — used as foods, herbal medicines, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals — are vulnerable to contamination, substitution, and adulteration, compromising efficacy and consumer trust while causing significant economic losses. Traditional morphology-based taxonomy cannot resolve closely related taxa or identify processed material, so DNA-based approaches have become the reference standard: barcoding with rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, ycf1 and ITS regions, and marker-based analyses using SNPs, SSRs and plastome variation.The field has since moved well beyond marker discovery. Next-Generation Sequencing, DNA metabarcoding, High Resolution Melting, allele-specific and digital PCR, isothermal amplification (LAMP, RPA), CRISPR-Cas12a/Cas13 readouts, and portable nanopore sequencing have made authentication faster, more sensitive, and deployable outside the laboratory. Yet the principal bottleneck is no longer the availability of methods but their validation and standardisation: harmonised reference materials and databases, defined limits of detection and quantification, inter-laboratory reproducibility, and fitness-for-purpose criteria acceptable to regulators. A second persistent challenge is degraded and complex matrices — processed extracts, blends, and heat- or solvent-treated products — where DNA integrity is compromised, mini-barcodes and short amplicons are required, and moving from qualitative detection to reliable quantification of adulterant proportions remains difficult.This Research Topic brings together studies that develop, validate, and apply molecular approaches for authenticating phototrophs and their bioproducts. We welcome work that links genotypic data to chemotypic variation, integrates computational and machine-learning analytics, and demonstrates transferability across laboratories and regulatory contexts. We are equally interested in forensic applications — timber and wood-product tracing, CITES-listed medicinal and ornamental species, and provenance determination in illegal-trade investigations — where molecular authentication carries direct legal weight.Themes include, but are not limited to:• Discovery and validation of novel DNA barcodes and mini-barcodes for phototroph identification• Method validation, standardisation, and harmonisation: reference materials, curated databases, limits of detection and quantification, inter-laboratory ring trials, and fitness-for-purpose criteria• Quantitative authentication and degraded matrices: digital PCR, DNA integrity assessment in processed extracts, and quantification of adulterant proportions in blends• SNP, SSR, and plastome-based markers for tracing geographic origin, variety, and provenance• DNA metabarcoding and whole-genome sequencing in quality control and species authentication• Rapid and on-site diagnostics: isothermal amplification (LAMP, RPA), CRISPR-Cas12a/Cas13 readouts, and portable nanopore sequencing• Integration of molecular authentication with metabolomics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning• Holobiont-based approaches in plant systematics and authentication• Forensic and regulatory applications: timber and wood products, CITES-listed species, illegal-trade provenance, and evidentiary standards• Variety identification and seed-lot integrity: DUS testing, plant breeders’ rights, cultivar discrimination, and seed purity verification• Contributions of molecular authentication to biodiversity conservation and regulatory frameworksArticle types: Original Research, Review, and Methods Articles. Topic editors: AMITA PANDEY, Beom-Gi Kim, GIRDHAR KUMAR PANDEY Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84005/advances-in-molecular-methods-for-authentication-of-phototrophs-and-their-bioproducts