Comparative Evaluation of DNA Barcodes for Taxonomic Identification of Three Indonesian Amorphophallus Species
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55981/floribunda.2026.16788Keywords:
Amorphophallus, barcoding gap, DNA barcoding, Kimura 2-parameter, Neighbor-JoiningAbstract
Amorphophallus Blume ex Decne. (Araceae) is native to Indonesia and holds significant ecological and economic value, making a reliable molecular method for taxonomic identification essential. GenBank sequences of three plastid markers (rbcL, matK, and trnL) from three Indonesian Amorphophallus species (A. muelleri Blume, A. paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson, and A. titanum (Becc.) Becc.) were analysed using barcoding gap analysis and Neighbor-Joining (NJ) distance-based clustering. All three markers showed a positive barcoding gap and grouped conspecific accessions into distinct clusters corresponding to each species. rbcL showed the largest barcoding gap (0.01163), followed by trnL (0.00873) and matK (0.00278), while bootstrap support for the species clusters was comparably high for rbcL and matK (≥95%) and lower for trnL (62–95%). These findings identify rbcL as the most informative marker among the three tested for the taxonomic identification of these three Amorphophallus species, with matK as a comparably reliable alternative and trnL as a complement, and provide a molecular reference for future taxonomic and conservation work on this genus in Indonesia.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Sulthan Rafi Abyan Hidayat, Diah Ayu NurFadilah, Isna Arofatun Nikmah
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