Molecular Characteristic Identification of Partial 16S rRNA Genes of Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus, 1758)

• Published in: Habitus Aquatica
• Main Authors: Mukhlis Kamal, Muhammad, A Butet, Nurlisa, Rahayu, Endah Sri, Hakim, Agus Alim
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Indonesian
• Published: Department of Aquatic Resources Management, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, IPB University 2021
• Subjects: 16S rRNA; Lawu Sea; sperm whale; Physeter macrocephalus; Laut Lawu; paus sperma; Catodon; Balaena mysticetus; Balaenoptera physalus; Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://journal.ipb.ac.id/index.php/habitusaquatica/article/view/35600; https://doi.org/10.29244/HAJ.2.1.21

Paus sperma (Physeter macrocephalus) merupakan salah satu mamalia laut yang dikategorikan dalam status vulnerable pada IUCN dan status Appendix I pada CITES. Identitas asli dari paus sperma secara molekuler dapat ditelusuri. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi karakteristik molekuler paus sperma (P. macrocephalus) berdasarkan gen 16s rRNA parsial. Tiga contoh jaringan paus sperma yang dianalisis berasal dari perairan Laut Sawu, Nusa Tenggara Timur. Hasil identifikasi berdasarkan sekuen basa nukleotida gen parsial 16S rRNA menunjukkan bahwa ketiga contoh memiliki kemiripan dengan Physeter catodon sebesar 99%, dimana P. catodon merupakan sinonim dari P. macrocephalus. Pensejajaran sekuen nukleotida dengan outgroup (Balaenoptera physalus dan Balaena mysticetus) didapatkan nilai jarak genetik ketiga contoh dengan outgroup berkisar antara 0,0093–0,0726. Selain itu, didapatkan 25 nukleotida spesifik P. macrocephalus yang mampu membedakan dari spesies outgroup. Penelitian ini mampu memvalidasi spesies P. macrocephalus berdasarkan gen 16S rRNA dan dapat dijadikan sebagai marka molekuler yang kuat untuk identifikasi P. macrocephalus. Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is one of the marine mammals that is categorized as vulnerable on IUCN and Appendix I status on CITES. The aunthentic identity of the sperm whale can be traced molecularly. This study aims to identify the molecular characteristics of the sperm whale (P. macrocephalus) based on the partial 16s rRNA gene. Three samples of sperm whale tissue analyzed came from the Lawu Sea Waters, East Nusa Tenggara. The identification results based on the nucleotide base sequence show that the three samples have 99% similarity to Physeter catodon, where P. catodon is a synonym for P. macrocephalus. The alignment of the nucleotide sequences with the outgroup (Balaenoptera physalus and Balaena mysticetus) obtained the genetic distance values of the three samples with outgroups ranging from 0.0093–0.0726. In addition, there were 25 specific nucleotides of P. macrocephalus that were able to differentiate from outgroup species. This study is success to validate P. macrocephalus species based on the 16S rRNA gene and can be used as a strong molecular marker for the identification of P. macrocephalus.