Short Communication: Molecular study on mt-DNA COX2 gene of Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus)

Abstract

Abstract. Wibowo DS, Widiyanti R, Asvan M, Restanti PD, Wijayanto H. 2021. Short Communication: Molecular study on mt-DNA COX2 gene of Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). Biodiversitas 22: 1063-1068. Sumatran elephant is the only subspecies of Asian elephants that receives a critically endangered status from the International Union for Conservation and Nature Resources (IUCN). Identifying the genetic marker of Sumatran elephants is, therefore, important for their conservation. This study aimed to identify the Sumatran elephant based on specific mitochondrial DNA markers of the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COX2) gene. It is an exploratory research considering the limited data and research about the genetic, especially the COX2 of Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). Forward and reverse sequencing of PCR products was conducted using the primary COX2 from Sumatran elephant samples. The results of the subsequent gene sequencing were aligned with the sequences of other Asian elephants from Genbank using Clustal W software and analyzed using the MEGA program version 6.06. The analysis of genetic distance based on COX2 constituent nucleotides calculated with Kimura’s two-parameter method showed that the genetic distance between Elephas maximus sumatranus and Elephas maximus outside of Sumatra was 0.25%. The phylogenetic trees analyzed using the maximum-likelihood based on nucleotide sequences showed a high homogeneity. The ratio of Elephas maximus sumatranus with Elephas maximus shows levels of nucleotide mutations which are nine nucleotides and four nucleotides. These results indicated that the COX2 gene could not identify the individual species of Sumatran elephant because of the high intraspecies homogeneity, but it detected the interspecies divergence clustered in Asian elephant clade.

Genetic Analysis of Sumatran Elephants in Seblat Natural Ecotourism Park Based on Partial of Mitochondrial Cytochrome B Gene

“…This high similarity also suggested that mtDNA diversity, especially in the Cytochrome b gene region, is very low in the Seblat. This result is in agreement with previous studies using other mtDNA fragments, such as D-loop, COXII, and COI (Sulandari & Zein, 2012;Wibowo et al, 2021;Virnarenata et al, 2021). The low genetic diversity of Sumatran Island may also increase higher reproductive failure because removal of heterozygous alleles.…”

“…A previous study reported by Sulandari and Zein (2012) described that low haplotype and nucleotide diversities were found in Sumatran elephant populations based on the D-loop region of mtDNA. The low genetic diversity of the Sumatran elephant originating from the South Sumatera area is also reported by Wibowo et al (2021) using mtDNA Cytochrome Oxidase subunit II (COX2). Moreover, Virnarenata et al (2021) reported that a close genetic relationship was found in the Sumatran elephant conserved in Way Kambas National Park based on mtDNA Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I (COI).…”

The differences of body measurements in captive Sumatran elephant on different captivity management and sex

“…Asian elephant is widely distributed in South Asia, especially in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Kalimantan (Borneo) (Wibowo et al 2021). Sumatran elephant is one of Asian elephant subspecies labelled Critically Endangered (CE) by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).…”