Morphological Traits and Molecular Phylogeny of the Aquatic Bird, Gallinula chloropus, Using Mitochondrial 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Sequences

Hassan Et Al., Hemely A.

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2023.323736

Morphological Traits and Molecular Phylogeny of the Aquatic Bird, Gallinula chloropus, Using Mitochondrial 16S Ribosomal RNA Gene Sequences

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Hemely A. Hassan et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2023.323736

Abstract

Recently, an increasing awareness of the avian environment and the conservation of nature and its species has emerged. The accurate identification of a species is essential to conserve it and determine suitable management plans. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, in Egypt as an aquatic bird and determine its phylogeny using mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences that have become common in birds’ research and can be used to provide both answers to specific research questions and guidance for selecting experimental designs. The sequencing of 16S rRNA in the understudied species produced a nucleotide length of 556bp and is deposited in GenBank under an accession number (OM943961.1). Representative sequences of G. chloropus are inserted within the taxa of Fulica, forming a well-supported sister relationship with sequences of Fulica atra. Limited morphological distinction and close phylogeny between G. chloropus and F. atra compared to other taxa of Fulica suggest that F. atra may be joined to Gallinula more than being a member of Fulica, as well as warranting a deep taxonomic revision to determine the validity of the separation of Gallinula from Fulica.

Keywords