Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Analysis of Lepidopteran Species by Molecular Barcoding Using Co I Gene Sequences

Pavana E., Sebastian C. D

Abstract: Lepidoptera is one of the largest orders of insects that include moths and butterflies. Most of the Lepidopterans are morphologically similar; therefore the identification of these insects is tedious using morphotaxonomy and that is detrimental in designing a better strategy to control and conserve them. These are extremely important group of model organisms and are used to investigate many areas of biological research; including such diverse fields as navigation; pest control; embryology; mimicry; evolution; genetics; population dynamics and biodiversity conservation. The knowledge of Lepidopteran genomics will create new methods of insect pest management and will contribute to sustainable agriculture; protection of the environment and the maintenance of biodiversity. In this study we amplified cytochrome oxidase I gene of Junonia atlites for species identification and constructed phylogenetic tree for recognizing evolutionary relationship.

Keywords: Molecular systematics, Lepidoptera, DNA barcoding, CO I gene sequences, Mitochondrial DNA, Junonia atlites