Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Earthworm Species Collected from Different Soil Habitats of Poonch Division Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan.

This study aims to analyze molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of earthworm species collected from different soil habitats of Poonch division Azad Kashmir Pakistan by using CO1 gene partial sequencing methodology. Samples gathered randomly from 18 study sites (127 localities) by digging and hand sorting methods were preserved in pure ethanol at -20°C. The modified CTAB (Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide) method extracted high quality DNA from region of representative earthworm's caudal region. This extracted DNA was used to amplify the 700 bp partial region of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene with LCO1490 and HCO2198 universal primers. All of the obtained amplified gene sequences were aligned, edited and analyzed using MEGA X software to characterize different species of earthworms. Thirty-eight (38) Barcoding sequences belonging to 11 different strains of earthworms were successfully generated. Their phylogenetic analysis revealed that 7 Barcoding sequences gave maximum similarity with the available online database, while the rest of the 4 sequences gave lower similarity than the maximum threshold level. The collected DNA barcode sequences were also clustered together by the maximum likelihood method and the resultant phylogenetic tree revealed they belong to different family lineages. Moreover the identified earthworm species have a close evolutionary link with the earthworm fauna of south and central Asia instead of Europe, which might be due to similar climate of both regions.