Preliminary molecular work on sea urchin (Diadema setosum) from Sabah

• Main Author: Mohd Zulhilmi, Zamri
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2011
• Subjects: Q Science (General); SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6431/4/ZULHILMI%20full.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6431/

Sea urchin (Diadema setosum) is an invertebrate from class Echinoidea which have long spine with five, characteristic white dots that can be found on its body. Sea urchin can be found in abundant in lagoon, particularly areas of coral rubbles thus it is associated with unhealthy coral areas. There were few studies on sea urchin in Sabah in terms of species diversity, distribution and density, however there is no molecular study on this species yet. Therefore this study is designed to sequence the 16S rRNA gene of D. setosum from Sabah. This study involved samples collection from Kudat and Lahad Datu, Sabah, total genomic DNA extraction using phenol- chloroform method, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to amplify 16S rRNA, PCR product purification, direct DNA sequencing and data analysis. A total of 500 bp 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from Diadema setosum of Kudat and Lahad Datu. These sequences match 16S rRNA gene of D. setosum DQ073741.1. Genetic divergence between D.setosum Kudat and Lahad Datu was 0.8%, wheres between samples from Sabah and D.setosum DQ073741.1 was in range 4.3 – 4.5%. The phylogenetic study showed that all sea urchin; Diadema setosum in this study are monophyletic.