Molecular approach for identification of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus based on Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene from Pakistan

AbstractThe aquaculture industry is dependent on rich fish resources in water bodies. Human activities have led to a rapid decline of fish species. In Asia, the Pangasiidae family is highly valued for its potential for survival and its fillet meat. DNA barcoding is a taxonomic method using genetic markers in organisms mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) for identification. The phylogeny and identification of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in the subcontinent is of great concern. For species identification, a precise and rapid technique is DNA barcoding. This method is strongly effective for analyzing the divergence among species. DNA barcoding is more reliable as compared to external morphology. To avoid mislabeling and conservation of species, it is equally useful in juveniles as well as adult stages of fishes. As DNA bar-coding is a taxonomic method that uses small genetic markers in organisms’ mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) for identification of particular species. In recent study MAGA X and Kimura 2 Parameter was used to evaluate genetic distance and neighbor joining tree was constructed. BOLD and GenBank reveals the nearest identity matches. As mitochondrial cyt-b gene region was successfully used for identifying species and accepted as a standard region for DNA barcoding.