TITLE:
Molecular Phylogeny of Walterinnesia aegyptia (Reptilia, Elapidae) Isolated from Ha’il Province, Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Ahmed Mohajja Alshammari, Ahmed Badry, Bander Hamad Aloufi, Eman El-Abd
KEYWORDS:
Elapidae, MtDNA, Phylogeny, Saudi Arabia, Walterinnesia aegyptia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
25,
2022
ABSTRACT: Walterinnesia
aegyptia is one of the most venomous snakes belonging to the
family Elapidae found in the Middle East and Africa. In addition to its
ecological importance, it is accused of millions of deaths due to snakebites.
Because molecular identification of snakes is crucial for the antivenom drug
industry, mitochondrial genes are used to identify, characterize, and infer
genetic diversity among different venomous snake species. Data of Walterinnesia collected from samples across Saudi Arabia were compared based on the
mitochondrial 16S and 12S rRNA sequences with other Elapidae related taxa to
assess the phylogenetic relationship. The phylogenetic analysis strongly
supports the monophyly of the genus Walterinnesia based on two genes
that represent different species of Elapidae. In addition, a close relationship
between Walterinnesia aegyptia and W. morgani was found. Our molecular data showed that W. morgani from Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, is nearly genetically identical (D = 0) with W. aegyptia from
Ha’il and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Sinai, Egypt. Further study is required
based on more material and detailed morphological and genetic analysis.