Dna barcoding of some carnivorous mammal species (Mammalia: Carnivora) in Turkey

Within the scope of this study, the cytochrome oxidase c subunit I gene region (COI) of mitochondrial DNA, known as the DNA barcode region, of three different carnivorous mammal species living in Turkey, known as the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the golden jackal (Canis aureus) and the rock marten (Martes foina), was sequenced. The obtained DNA sequences were compared in terms of similarity (PI, pairwise identity, pairwise similarity) with the sequences of other species available in the database using the BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) option in the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) database. In addition, COI gene sequences were subjected to two different phylogenetic analysis methods: Neighbour-Joining and haplotype network. As a result of BLAST query and phylogenetic analyses, it was concluded that the barcoding regions of the studied species could be a molecular marker that can be used to clear the problems encountered in taxonomic studies for these species.