Barcoding of Five Sturgeon Species in Iran

The universal barcoding gene of Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) was utilised for molecular characterisation of five sturgeon species found in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea. These were Acipenser gueldenstaedtii (Russian sturgeon), A. persicus (Persian sturgeon), A. stellatus (Stellate sturgeon), A. nudiventris (Spiny sturgeon) and Huso huso (Great sturgeon). An additional 10 sequences from the Genbank were included in the analysis, A. stellatus (AJ585050), H. huso (AY442351) A. baerii (FJ205560-FJ205563), A. fulvescens (EU524397), A. transmontanus (EU523891), A. medirostris (EU523885) and A. oxynrinchus (EU524401). The data was also analysed for phylogenetic insights among the studied species. The results confirmed the utility of this gene for molecular identification and revealed monophyly of three of the species; H. huso, A. nudiventris and A. stellatus. However, the status of A. gueldenstaedtii and A. persicus was unresolved with Genbank sequences of A. baerii (FJ205560-FJ205563) also clustering in the A. gueldenstaedtii-persicus complex as had been reported by previous researchers investigating other genes. Thus, the results provide further evidence of the polyphylic` nature of A. gueldenstaedtii. The data is also in agreement with several earlier reports that H. huso may not be a separate genus from Acipenser within the family Acipenserinae. The low internode bootstrap values at branch nodes did not allow for any phylogenetic inference among the Acipenser species to be deduced.