Amplification of COI-II, ND II & ITSI-II by Polymerase Chain Reaction: Prospects for DNA Barcoding of Nigerian Drosophila Populations

Abstract

Populations of Nigerian Drosophila are hardly distinguishable in morphology but reproductively isolated.
Spectrophotometric analysis of genomic DNA of the fruitflies reveals that the DNA extraction protocol used yielded genomic DNA
good enough for polymerase chain reaction, confirming claims that polymerase chain reaction is possible even when amount of
template DNA varies considerably. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
dehydrogenase subunit II, and the nuclear internal transcribed spacer regions I and II are highly conserved regions in Drosophila.
Successful amplification of these regions suggests that they are promising regions for DNA barcoding and molecular characterization
of local Drosophila species. Further molecular and DNA barcoding studies targeted at local Drosophila species in Nigeria is desirable.