Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Nemoura flexuosa Aubert, 1949 Based on Cytochrome Oxidase C Subunit-I Gene from Türkiye

Plecoptera species are valuable both as freshwater indicators and as key role in the food chain of river ecosystems. Moreover, they constitute an order with a high speciation capacity. Therefore, identification at the species level by morphological analysis leads to reliability problems. Studies on the phylogeny of Nemoura flexuosa which belongs to this order are scarce in the literature. Samples were collected from Kocaeli-Türkiye and then morphological and phylogenetic descriptions of the specimens were made. The Cytochrome Oxidase C Subunit-I gene region in mitochondrial DNA was amplified and sequenced. Molecular analyses revealed that the samples belong to the N. flexuosa species. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out by comparing the gene sequences of N. flexuosa haplotypes in Europe with gene sequences of the same basepair length and with the gene sequence of Amphinemura borealis which was used as an outgroup. The two phylogenetic trees were consistent and the collected specimens were evolutionarily closer to the OK316196.1, OK316261.1, OK316397.1, MZ608304.1, KY261370.1 and JX905853.1 haplotype. The presence of N. flexuosa in Kocaeli and the phylogenetic status of the Türkiye haplotype were reported. Clarifying the phylogenetic status of ecologically important species provides basic information for biosecurity studies for possible future conservation and control programs.