International Journal Of Biology and Biological Sciences Vol. 4(1), pp. 019-026, April 2015 ISSN 2327-3062 ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A DNA barcode analysis of the genus Suaeda (Chenopodiaceae) species based on rbcL and matK regions of the chloroplast DNA

Uzma Munir¹*, Anjum Perveen² and Syeda Qamarunnisa³

¹Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Pakistan.

²Centre for Plant Conservation, University of Karachi, Pakistan.

³The Karachi Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), University of Karachi, Pakistan.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: uzmalink@gmail.com.

Accepted 21 November, 2014

Abstract

The genus Suaeda (Forssk.) belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae. Identification of Suaeda species based on morphological data is quite difficult due to high phenotypic plasticity, few distinguishable and many overlapping characters. In the current research, the efficiency of rbcL and matK (plants core barcode regions) for species identification of the genus Suaeda efficiency was assessed. For DNA barcode analysis, the determination of intraspecific and interspecific divergence, assessment of barcoding gap, reconstruction of phylogenetic trees and evaluation of barcode regions for species identification (based on best match and best close match) were carried out. The results revealed that out of the two investigated barcode regions, rbcL showed comparatively less overlapping for the distribution of interspecific and intraspecific divergence. In addition, the highest discriminatory ability for correct species identification was also observed in this region. Therefore, rbcL was found to be a significant barcode region for the identification of Suaeda species.

Key words: DNA barcoding, species identification, rbcL, matK, intraspecific, interspecific, monophyly.