THE MOLECULAR CHARACTER OF Tacca chantrieri ANDRÉ IN BA VI NATIONAL PARK BASED ON CHLOROPLAST GENE REGION (MatK)

Abstract

Tacca J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. is the only genus in Taccaceae that includes 19 species distributed around the world, of which have found 7 species in Vietnam. DNA barcoding is a rapid species identification and discovery method using short, standardized genes or DNA regions. In this study, we have sequences of chloroplast gene region (matK) from 30 Tacca chantrieri André collection individuals in Ba Vi National Park to investigate the genetic character and their phylogenetic inference in the genus Tacca. DNA was extracted from the tissue of leaves. The nucleotide sequence of matK was determined to be 747 bp and deposited in GenBank (ON337530-ON337559). All samples showed that their length and nucleotide sequence similarity were 100%. The analysis indicated the mean base compositions were nucleotide T(U) (39.9%), C (15.4%), A (29.9%), and G (14.9%). The GC content was found to be low (30.3%), compared to 69.8% of the AT content. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood (ML) indicated that all samples from Vietnam have a close relationship with T. chantrieri in GenBank with strong supporting values (98%). Genetic p-distances interspecific divergence within and among Tacca species varied from 0% to 5%, with a mean genetic distance of 2%. The gene (matK) can also be used as a DNA barcode to identify the T. chantrieri species in Vietnam.