Abstract Species of the subfamily Holocentrinae, family Holocentidae, commonly called, squirrelfishes, are widely distributed from tropical to warm temperate waters. In Egypt, no data are available on genetic and evolutionary relationships of the family Holocentridae. Therefore, the study of the genetic relationship among Holocentrids species is crucial for proper management and convenient strategies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genetic relationship among eight species belonging to the family Holocentridae from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in Egypt using DNA barcoding. Based on this molecular marker, a phylogenetic tree was constructed for the studied Holocentrids species. 12S rRNA sequences discovered that Sargocentron caudimaculatum was clustered as closest taxa to Sargocentron spiniferum, being a sister group to each other. Also, Sargocentron punctatissimum and Sargocentron macrosquamis were more related to each other and formed a sister group. Moreover, this study discusses the building of genetic relationship among Sargocentron spinosissimum and Sargocentron macrosquamis for the first time to the other studied Sargocentrons. DNA barcoding using 12S rRNA gene provided efficient DNA barcodes for all of the studied species. The constructed phylogenetic tree based on the employed molecular marker provided the update for the barcoded Holocentridae species evolution.

Abstract Hoopoe has been traditionally treated as a single species within the order Coraciiformes. Presently, however, various authors have suggested separating the hoopoe into two or more species and even its order, Bucerotiformes. So, this work aimed to use the RAPD PCR and DNA sequences of the COI gene barcodes to confirm and to assess whether the Egyptian hoopoe is a different species named Upupa epops major from the European hoopoe called Upupa epops epops, and to determine the relationships among them. Five primers were used in this technique. Two hoopoes were taken in this work as studying birds, migratory and resident one. The results showed the highest genetic distance between them using different random primers while genetic identity was in general low, overall primers. DNA fingerprinting detected greater genetic distance between Upupa epops major and Upupa epops epops and low genetic identity, this may indicate that both hoopoes fall into two separate species. Furthermore, using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences in this study suggests the separation of Upupa epops major into a new species.

RESUMO. Este é o primeiro estudo para a detecção da relação genética entre Porphyrio alleni e quatro espécies de Rallidae: Fulica atra, Gallinulla angulata, Gallinulla chloropus e Porphyrio porphyrio. As seqüências de subunidade i (COI) do citocromo oxidase foram usadas como marcador efetivo neste estudo. O DNA das espécies Rallidae foi extraído, amplificado e usado na reação de cadeia da polimerase (polymerase chain reaction- PCR) e sequenciado então. Os resultados obtidos a partir de informações baseadas em sequências COI revelaram que Gallinulla angulata e Gallinulla chloropus caem em dois clades separados e eles não são monofiléticos. Isto sugere que duas galinhas d’água não puderam ser colocadas no mesmo gênero. Além disso, Porphyrio porphyrio incluído no mesmo gênero que Porphyrio alleni, mas eles estavam situados em dois clades diferentes. Porphyrio alleni estava mais relacionado com Gallinulla angulata, Gallinulla chloropus e Fulica atra do que com Porphyrio porphyrio. Concluiu-se que o gene mitocondrial COI pode ajudar na diferenciação de espécies estudadas e encontrar relações genéticas entre elas.

ABSTRACT. This is the first study to detection the genetic relationship between Porphyrio alleni and four Rallidae species: Fulica atra, Gallinulla angulata, Gallinulla chloropus and Porphyrio porphyrio. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences were used as an effective marker in this study. DNA of Rallidae species were extracted, amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then sequenced. The results obtained from information based on COI sequences revealed that Gallinulla angulata and Gallinulla chloropus fall into two separate clades and they are not monophyletic. This suggests that, two moorhens could not be laid into the same genus. In addition, Porphyrio porphyrio was included in the same genus with Porphyrio alleni but they were situated in two different clades. Porphyrio alleni was more related to Gallinulla angulate, Gallinulla chloropus and Fulica atra than Porphyrio porphyrio. It was concluded that, the mitochondrial gene COI can aid in the differentiation of studied species and finding genetic relationships between them.

ABSTRACT Quail is an important and interesting group of galliform birds. The Common quail (Coturnix coturnix); the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica); the Panda quail (Coturnix japonica); the Dotted white quail (Coturnix japonica) and the Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) were used in this study. PCR-RFLP and SDS-proteins were performed to reveal the genetic characterization and genetic relationship of the studied quails. Analysis of fragments generated by digestion of PCR product with restriction enzyme NlaIII recorded highly polymorphic restriction profiles. There is a wide intraspecific COI, SEMA3E and TLX genes variability among the studied quails. Protein bands varied from10 to 18 between quails with minimum number of bands were in the Dotted white quail (10 bands) and the maximum were in the Japanese quail (18 bands) as measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The Dotted white quail revealed the lowest similarity to the Bobwhite with a coefficient of 0.18 while The similarity coefficients between the Common quail and each one of the other quails were 0.67, 0.62, 0.45 and 0.42 for the Japanese, Panda, Dotted white and the Bobwhite quails, respectively. The results indicate that, PCR-RFLP and protein analyses are good techniques to evaluate genetic characterization and genetic relationship of these quails.