Molecular identification and study of water Frogs phylogeny in South eastern Tehran province using mitochondrial 12srRNA gene Sequence

Up to now most species of Iranian frogs has been identified morphologically and all populations (albeit their vast distribution) are assigned to Rana (Pelophylax) ridibunda. The main objective of this research was to study frog populations of the South eastern Tehran using mitochondrial 12srRNA sequencing. For this purpose, n=19 water frogs were sampled in four stations (i.e. Pakdasht, Varamin, Gharchak, Pishva). The samples specimens were preserved at 96% ethanol solution and transferred to the laboratory for further analysis. DNA was extracted from leg tissue using CTAB method and the 12srRNA gene was ampilified and sequenced using primers developed by Kocher et al. (1989). The phylogenic tree was drawn using Joining Neighbor and Maximum Likelihood methods in Mega6 software the results indicate that indicated two clads with 100% affinity. The first clade assigned to P. bedriagae populations and the next clade included our samples. In conclusion, the frog populations of Tehran province may be assigned to P. bedriagae or a subspecies. Further research is needed to reveal this.