Identification of Egyptian Mangrove Species Based on DNA Barcoding

Aims: Mangroves are woody trees or shrubs that grow in the intertidal zone and are distributed along tropical and subtropical coasts. These plants are resilient to various environmental challenges; they are also one of the most efficient terrestrial and coastal ecosystem for carbon fixation and storage. In recent years, mangrove reforestation has attracted much attention as a strategy to reduce the effects of climate change. In Egypt, there are two types of mangroves, Rhizophora mucronata and Avicennia marina, between 30°N and 30°S of the equator. Mangrove management presents a difficult task, particularly when it comes to managing molecular mangroves for long-term sustainability. With the impact of human activity on mangrove ecosystems increasing each year, molecular research on mangrove correlates remains to be conducted. For this reason, using DNA barcoding technology to quickly identify species, mangrove ecosystems may be protected.

Methodology: In this work, the two Egyptian mangrove species were assessed through morphological, cytological, and molecular approaches. Two universal DNA barcodes, rbcL and ITS, were examined to identify their efficacy for Egyptian mangrove species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction.

Results: According to pairwise alignments, the rbcL region had the highest level of variability (73.2%), whereas the ITS region was the least variable (11.96%). The selected Egyptian mangrove species can potentially be distinguished by barcoding loci rbcL and ITS due to the existence of distinctive variable sites.