Abstrato

Maturase k gene analysis of two morphologically similar plant taxa

Agus Sudiarawan

Background and Objectives: In natural product applications, morphological mimicry that results in nomenclatural ambiguity across and within plant species is quickly becoming a serious concern. The Maturase K gene was used as a DNA barcoding tool to resolve taxonomically frequent nomenclatural substitution between Tetraptera and Albizia adianthifolia caused by morphological similarities. Materials and Procedures: The specimens' grounded leaf samples were treated to normal DNA extraction, amplification, sequencing, and BLASTING techniques (Basic Local Alignment Tool). Results: Differential nucleic acid purity levels, base pair sequence lengths, presence of conserved codons, nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) across both samples, and different amino acid residues indicated both specimens to be distinct taxa. When the sequenced products were run via the Basic Local Alignment Tool, specimen A showed homology with Tetrapleura tetraptera, whilst specimen B showed homology with Albizia adianthifolia and Albizia petersiana, implying congruent identity and hence nomenclatural ambiguity. The phylogenic tree used to resolve the congruency revealed that specimen B is closer to Albizia adianthifolia than Albizia petersiana in terms of taxonomic distance. Conclusion: The study recommends DNA barcoding as a useful approach for resolving nomenclatural issues between morphologically similar taxa