Molecular description of medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana carena, 1820) based on DNA sequences

In this study, 641-736 bp partially distinctive nucleotide sequences belonging to the mtCOI and 18S rRNA gene locus from Hirudo verbana samples were identified as identical and registered in GenBank (OM010329, OM010332-37, OM033510, OK091623-32). Among the mtCOI nucleotide sequences of 6 of these isolates (OM010329, 32, 33, 35, 37, OM033510), 1 variation (A > G) was observed at nucleotide 431. The nucleotide percentages in the mtCOI gene sequences of Hirudo verbana samples are (A 24.5-26.0%; T 24.3-25.2%; G 28.1-29.6%; C 20.9-21.6%). The nucleotide percentages in the 18S rRNA gene sequences are (26.9-27.2% A; 26.7-26.8% T; 28.3-28.6% G; 17.4-17.9% C). According to the mtCOI sequence dataset distance matrix obtained by the Pairwise comparison method, there was a complete agreement between the H.verbana isolates identified in this study and the H.verbana isolate registered in the GenBank. mtCOI gene sequence results of the isolates confirmed the taxonomic position of H.verbana, which was defined according to its anatomical and morphological features. As a result, mtCOI and 18S rRNA gene sequences were defined for the first time in this study on the samples belonging to H.verbana species in Karamık Lake, and it contributed to the determining the genetic characteristics of this species on a local and global scale.