Morphological and molecular studies of six Junonia species of butterflies using RAPD-PCR technique

Catherine Vanlalruati, Zothansangi, G. Gurusubramanian, N. Senthil Kumar

Science Vision 11 (3), 141-146 | Published on 30 September 2011 |

Abstract

The genomic DNA of six species of butterflies (Junonia atlites, J. iphita, J. hierta, J. orithiya J. lemonias and J. almanac), family Nymphalidae, sub-family Nymphalinae, were used for RAPD-PCR analysis using 15 random primers to study the genetic similarity and diversity. A total of 437 bands were scored, of which 357 were polymorphic and the average percent polymorphism was 82.70%. Dendogram constructed using the UPGMA of NTSYS spc2.2 software divided the Junonia species into two clades. There is a difference in the branching pattern between the morphological and molecular data, which signifies the need for using molecular tools for taxonomic classification as well as in understanding the evolutionary relationship.

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