Molecular Identification of Korean Polychaetes Based on Mitochondrial COI Gene Sequence

Abstract

Polychaetes are one of the dominant organisms in marine benthic ecosystem, yet understanding of their taxonomy and genetics is limited. Most of the polychaete species have trouble in identification of their species based on the morphological characters due to their similarity among the species. In this study, we attempted a genetic identification of Korean Polychaetes using a partial sequence (658bp) of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), which is widely used as a DNA barcode marker. A total of 22 families were included in the analysis: Onuphidae , Capitellidae , Maldanidae , Cirratulidae , Dorviileidae , Lumbrineridae , Oenonidae , Onuphidae , Scalibregmidae , Glyceridae , Lacydoniidae , Nephtyidae , Nereididae , Phyllodocidae , Pilargidae , Polynoidae , Sabellidae , Poecilochaetidae , Spionidae , Eunicidae , Terebellidae , Trichobranchidae. The sequence comparison shows that high variability of the COI sequence within and between the species. Neighbour-Joining tree suggested a sister relationship between Lacydoniidae and phyllodocidae. Further analysis based on more comprehensive species sampling and sequence information would provide a more robust validation of phylogenetic relationships among the polychaete species, genera and families.