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DNA barcode analysis of butterfly species from P akistan points towards regional endemism
Author(s) -
Ashfaq Muhammad,
Akhtar Saleem,
Khan Arif M.,
Adamowicz Sarah J.,
Hebert Paul D. N.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
molecular ecology resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.96
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1755-0998
pISSN - 1755-098X
DOI - 10.1111/1755-0998.12131
Subject(s) - barcode , dna barcoding , biology , nymphalidae , endemism , monophyly , butterfly , species complex , fauna , divergence (linguistics) , ecology , intraspecific competition , taxon , zoology , evolutionary biology , phylogenetic tree , clade , genetics , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , gene , operating system
DNA barcodes were obtained for 81 butterfly species belonging to 52 genera from sites in north‐central P akistan to test the utility of barcoding for their identification and to gain a better understanding of regional barcode variation. These species represent 25% of the butterfly fauna of P akistan and belong to five families, although the N ymphalidae were dominant, comprising 38% of the total specimens. Barcode analysis showed that maximum conspecific divergence was 1.6%, while there was 1.7–14.3% divergence from the nearest neighbour species. Barcode records for 55 species showed <2% sequence divergence to records in the B arcode of L ife D ata S ystems ( BOLD ), but only 26 of these cases involved specimens from neighbouring India and Central Asia. Analysis revealed that most species showed little incremental sequence variation when specimens from other regions were considered, but a threefold increase was noted in a few cases. There was a clear gap between maximum intraspecific and minimum nearest neighbour distance for all 81 species. Neighbour‐joining cluster analysis showed that members of each species formed a monophyletic cluster with strong bootstrap support. The barcode results revealed two provisional species that could not be clearly linked to known taxa, while 24 other species gained their first coverage. Future work should extend the barcode reference library to include all butterfly species from P akistan as well as neighbouring countries to gain a better understanding of regional variation in barcode sequences in this topographically and climatically complex region.