A DNA barcode for Piroplasmea

► This study firstly analyzes the ability of 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, ITS and COI as candidate DNA barcodes to assess the identification efficiency for the order Piroplasmea. ► From the result, we propose that ITS2 is the most ideal DNA barcode based on the current database for order Piroplasmea. ► Using ITS2 to clarification some controversy of piroplasma.