Phylogenetic Inference from 18S rRNA Gene Sequences of Horseshoe Crabs, Tachypleus gigas between Tanjung Dawai, Kedah and Cherating, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia

The phylogenetic analysis using the most conservative portions of 18S rRNA gene revealed the phylogenetic relationship among the two populations where DNA divergence showed that the nucleotides diversity value were -0.00838 for the Tanjung Dawai, Kedah and -0.00708 for the Cherating, Pahang populations respectively. The net nucleotide divergence among populations (Da) was -0.0073 indicating a low polymorphism among the populations studied. Total number of mutations in the Tanjung Dawai, Kedah samples was higher than Cherating, Pahang samples, which are 73 and 59 respectively while shared mutations across the populations were 8, and reveal the evolutionary in the genome of Malaysian T. gigas. The tree topology of both populations inferred using Neigbour-joining method by comparing 1791 bp of partial 18S rRNA sequence revealed that T. gigas haplotypes were clustered into seven clades, suggesting that they are genetically diverse among populations which derived from a common ancestor.

Authors:

• Ismail
• N.
• Sarijan
• S

Keywords:

• Horseshoe crabs
• Tachypleus gigas
• 18S rRNA genesequences
• phylogenetic analysis

References:

[1] Botton, M. L. & Loveland, R. E. 2003. Abundance and dispersal
potential of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) larvae in the Delaware
Estuary. Estuaries 26(6): 1472-1479.
[2] Grogan, W. N. 2004. A mid-Atlantic study of the movement patterns and
population distribution of the American horseshoe crab, L. polyphemus.
Master of Science Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State
University, USA.
[3] Hwang, U. W. & Kim, W. 1999. General properties and phylogenetic
utilities of nuclear ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA commonly
used in molecular systematic. The Korean Journal of Parasitology
37(4):215-228.
[4] Iwanaga, S., Morita, T., Miyata, T., Nakamura, T. & Aketagawa, J. 1986.
The hemolymph coagulation system in invertebrate animals. Journal of
Protein Chemistry 5(4).
[5] Manylov, O. G., Vladychenskaya, N. S., Milyutina, I. A., Kedrova, O. S.,
Korokhov, N. P., Dvoryanchikov, G. A., Aleshin, V. V. & Petrov, N. B.
2003. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30:850-854.
[6] Moore, S. & Perrin, S. 2007. Seasonal Movement and Resource-Use
Patterns of Resident Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Populations
in a Maine, USA Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 30(6):1016-1026.
[7] Nellaiappan, K. & Sugumaran, M. 1996. On the presence of
prophenoloxidase in the hemolymph of the horseshoe crab, Limulus.
Comparative Biochemical Physiology 113B(1):163-168.
[8] Osaki, T. & Kawabata, S. 2003. Structure and function of coagulen, a
clottable protein in horseshoe crabs. Cellular and Molecular Life
Sciences 61:1257-1265.
[9] Schaller, Y. S., Chabot, C. C., Watson III, W. H. 2010. Seasonal
movements of American horseshoe crabs L. polyphemus in the Great Bay
Estuary, New Hampshire USA. Current Zoology 56(5):587-598.
[10] Snustad, D. P. & Simmons, M. J. 2006. Principles of Genetics. 4th ed.
John Wiley & Sons Publication.
[11] Swan, B. L. 2005. Migrations of adult horseshoe crabs, Limulus
polyphemus, in the Middle Atlantic Bight: a 17-year tagging study.
Estuaries 29(1):28-40.
[12] Tamarin, R. H. 2002. Principles of Genetics. 7th ed. McGraw-Hill Higher
Education Publication.
[13] Vesely, M. D. & Vesely, D. L. 1999. Environmental up-regulation of the
atrial natriuretic peptide gene in the living fossil, Limulus polyphemus.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 254:751-756.
[14] Xia, X. 2000. Phylogenetic relationship among horseshoe crab species:
effect of substitution models on phylogenetic analyses. Systematic
Biology49(1):87-100.