MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF PORCELLIO LAEVIS AND PYCNOSCELUS SURINAMENSIS BY USING MITOCHONDRIAL CO1 SEQUENCE IN QENA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT

Abstract

Arthropods are the most diverse animal phylum and prevalent in nearly all the environments on the Earth. Soil macroarthropods play key roles in several supporting and regulating ecosystem services. Two widely-distributed species of terrestrial arthropods (Porcellio laevis and Pycnoscelus surinamensis) were collected from four areas in Qena governorate (Egypt), identified, and their phylogeographic relationships were carried out using mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) sequence. The CO1 sequence of P. laevis had a nucleotide length between 641 base pair (bp) and 664 bp; while in P. surinamensis it varied from 648 bp to 654 bp. The average A+T content in P. laevis and P. surinamensis was 62.37% and 62.55%, respectively. The pairwise genetic distances among P. laevis specimens varied from 0.00 to 0.0235, with the most closely related locations being Naga Hammadi and El-Taramsa. The genetic distance of P. surinamensis ranged from 0.0000 to 0.0045, with the most related sites being South Valley University farm and Qus city.