DNA barcoding for revealing a possible new species of Anurophorus (Collembola: Isotomidae) associated with Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson)

The Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) is native to the higher mountains of South Korea, including the upper part of the Mt. Hallasan National Park, which is designated as the Biosphere Reserve of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. This species is considered as endangered and climate-sensitive bioindicator. We collected a species of Anurophorus (Collembola) from withered and rolled leaves of Korean fir, which is distributing at >1,300 m in altitude on Mt. Hallasan. There are 6 species of this genus in the Korean Peninsula, except the collected species (designated as Anurophorus sp.) with clear differences among them. Anurophorus sp. is most similar to A. laricis Nicolet in the general pattern of body chaetotaxy but was characterized by the number of knobbed hairs on tibiotarsi of all legs. Partial DNA sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were used as DNA barcodes to distinguish the species and to verify its usefulness. It shows clear difference in genetic distance between studied other Anurophorus spp. The result indicates that the COI barcodes is a useful tool for species discrimination of Anurophorus, and Anurophorus sp. studied here is likely to be new to science.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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