Biodiversity

Biography

Biography: Chioma Nwakanma

Abstract

Fish is a proteinous animal which plays a vital role in the protection and prevention of human diseases. DNA barcoding which uses the 50 region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit as the target gene was implored as an effi cient tool in the identifi cation of fish species in the Enugu Metropolis River (Nike Lake and Abakpa River). 10-20mg fi sh tissue sample of 18 species were extracted for DNA using Promega kit. Th e polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify short sequences of mitochondrial DNA, which were denatured and analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (native PAGE), for detection of single strand conformation. Polymorphism species specifi c muscle alignment patterns of DNA bands were obtained for Chrischthys sp, Parachinna sp, Ctenopoma sp, Tilapia sp and for a number of Clarias species. Out of the 18 fi sh species, only 15 fi sh samples were analysed using their genomic make-up, 4 out of the 15 samples (Parachinna obscura-2) (Clarias sp -2) did not show statistical signifi cant evidence of spatial genetic diff erentiation in their nucleotides despite the enormous geographical distance separating populations. The morphological studies on this fi sh species have shown that these lines of evidence are taxonomically important and also partial diff erences in genomic nucleotide base pairs when noticed. This diff erence is the polymorphism, which is the key to fl agging new specie in a particular genus can be attributed to environmental changes and diversity.