Molecular Identification of Ladybird Beetles (Coccinella: Coccinellidae) Using DNA Barcodes

Abdalla, Hanan Altaief; Gamal Fiteha, Yosur; Abdel-Salam Rashed, Mohamed; Mohamed Ali, Ramadan; Mohamed Abdel-Salam Hammad, Aya; Saber Mohamed Bream, Ahmed; Magdy, Mahmoud

doi:10.21608/jsrs.2022.275796

Molecular Identification of Ladybird Beetles (Coccinella: Coccinellidae) Using DNA Barcodes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Zoology Department, Collage of Women, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

² Zoology Department, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

³ Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

⁴ Entomology Dept., Faculty of Sciences, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/jsrs.2022.275796

Abstract

DNA barcoding is a molecular genetics technique commonly applied for species identification based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene located on the mitochondrial DNA genome. Based on our analysis, the DNA barcodes were generated from 16 specimen of Coccinella (family Coccinellidae). All the samples were collected from diverse sites in Egypt and Libya. Morphological traits based on the number of dorsal spots, DNA extraction, PCR amplification of COI, sequencing, nucleotide BLAST, and phylogenetics analyses were used to classify the specimens. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the maximum likelihood method, including 46 COI sequences (the study and NCBI sequences). Three Coccinella clusters were defined and classified as Coccinella septempunctata, Coccinella novemnotata, and Coccinella undecimpunctata each species clustered into a unique branch. DNA barcodes discriminated clearly against the analyzed species. This study validated the COI efficiency as a marker for DNA barcoding of insects (Coccinella, family Coccinellidae).

Keywords