PJB-2024-208
DNA Barcoding of Purging Nut (Jatropha curcas L.) from Calabar, Nigeria Using Rbcl Gene (Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase).
Akesa Terfa Maurice
Abstract
The purging nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a multipurpose plant that may be used for therapeutic and biodiesel production. In order to properly apply and preserve the species, purging nuts must be identified down to the species level, and molecular data such as DNA barcodes can resolve such taxonomical problems. This study aimed to identify the Nigerian purging nut plant by amplifying and characterising the rbcL gene in the plants' sample collected from the University of Calabar's Botanical Garden. The ZymoBiomic (Zymo Research DNA Extraction) Kit was used to isolate total DNA from leaf tissue. The DNA specimen was amplified using the standard rbcL primer with forward sequence rbcL1F and reverse sequence rbcL724. The rbcL gene was successfully amplified, with an amplicon size of 680 bp. There was a 100% similarity between the sequence and Jatropha curcas L., Jatropha capensis Sond., and Jatropha integerrima Jacq., but showed 0.76% and 0.79 % distances from Ostodes paniculata Blume and Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) Radcl respectively. Although the primer pairs rbcL 1F -f and rbcL724 R -r can amplify the partial rbcL gene of Purging nut, the region is only capable of identifying the plant up to the genus level, not at the species level. Therefore, to generate a DNA barcode that can be used for Jatropha species differentiation, retesting utilising a combination of two or more loci is required.
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