Abstract
Based on the IUCN Red List, Panthera tigris sumatrae or Sumatran Tiger holds the status of Critical (Critically Endangered /CR) species with an estimated population of only 371 individuals in the wild. Illegal hunting and trade are one of the causes that led to population decline drastically. Conventional forensic investigation such as morphological data collection is difficult to do because the sample has been degraded or mixed with other animal body parts. DNA barcode is an actual method that utilizes DNA for species identification based on the gene markers of living things. DNA barcode usually uses a DNA nucleotide sequence of genes that is different between species and almost unchanged in that species. The gene is cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1). Here we report the results of the characterization of the CO1 gene for DNA barcoding from one of the Sumatran tigers with an individual identity called Bonita caught in Riau province and released after being rehabilitated. This research has been able to characterize the CO1 Bonita gene along 435 nucleotides. That length of the nucleotide can be used as a Bonita barcode with the change in the eighth amino acid, Leucine to Proline with the 23rd nucleotide mutation (CTGàCCG). CO1 can distinguish individuals in intra-species, which in the eighth amino acid from other Panthera tigris is Leucine. CO1 gene can differentiate between species analyzed in this study with genetic distances greater than 8.3%.
Highlights
Sumatran tiger is one of the six subspecies of Panthera tigris that still survive, and the only ones still exist in Indonesia
The DNA sequence was compared with the 11 sequences sampled (Table 1) from GenBank NCBI https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program to measure the degree of data similarity
Amplification fragment gene cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) The results of the total DNA extraction were migrated to 1.2% agarose gel and viewed with UV trans-illuminator rays
Summary
Sumatran tiger is one of the six subspecies of Panthera tigris that still survive, and the only ones still exist in Indonesia. The declining of the Sumatran tiger populations caused by several factors, including the increase of illegal trade and human conflict [4]. Samples of body parts of the Sumatran Tiger traded on the black market are sometimes challenging to identify. Standard methods based on morphology and immunology have limitations in the identification of samples that have been old and degraded [7]. The latest DNA-based identification method is developed for animal forensic investigation [8, 9] and known as DNA barcoding technology, which was established in 2003 [10, 11]. DNA barcoding has been used as a standard protocol for the rapid identification of animals and plants at the species level. The results of this study can be used to DNA barcode reference of other Sumatran Tigers especial for the forensic database to reveal the illegal trade
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