Molecular-Based Identification of Polystoma integerrimum by 28S rDNA, Phylogenetic and Secondary Structure Analysis

The present study was carried out to molecular identification, phylogenetic evolutionary and secondary structure prediction of the monogenean, Polystoma integerrimum which was isolated from amphibians Bufo viridis and B. regularis, collected from various regions in Erbil City, Iraq. After the morphological examination of the parasite, molecular identification and phylogenetic relationships were carried out using 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence marker. The result indicated that the query sequence (sample sequence) was 100% identical to this species of the parasite and the phylogenetic tree showed 97-99% relationships in the sequence of P. integerrimum and 28S rDNA regions for other species of Polystoma. In addition, the present finding was confirmed by the molecular morphometrics, according to the secondary structure of 28S rDNA region. The topology analysis produced the same data as the acquired tree. In conclusion, the primary sequence analysis showed the validity of P. integerrimum. Phylogenetic tree and secondary structure analysis can be considered as a valuable method for separating species of Polystoma.