Notes on Hampala (Cyprininae) Distribution from Six Localities in Sabah

This study was conducted from the 9th until 16th November 2003. A total of 31 fish from six localities throughout Sabah were sampled. It was found that at least four forms of Hampala inhibit the Sabah river system. The widely spread form, H. macrolepidota and the Bornean endemic form, H. bimaculata was recorded on the west coast region of Sabah. The Sabah endemic form, H. sabana dominated the central eastern region of Sabah. The south eastern region demonstrates the existence of two forms distinctly different by their number of gill rakers: (I) Tawau population (gill raker counts: 10-11) and Kalabakan population (gill raker counts: 12-13). The Kalabakan form could possibly be a crytic species

Sequence Variation in Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) Inferred Using Partial Sequences of the Cytochrome b Segment of the Mitochondrial DNA

Comparison of 321 bp long mtDNA cytochrome b sequences of wild and captive Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus)revealed low variation among the individuals investigated. Phylogenetic analyses using distance (neighbor-joining) analysis supported the monophyletic status of the Malayan tapir. Two haplotypes were identified out of 13 Malayan tapir analyzed

Partial purification and characterization of alpha-amylase from Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens UMAS1002

Confirmation test using several biochemical, physiological and characteristics methods has confirmed that the bacterium used in this study is the same isolate used in previous study, which was designated as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens UMASI002. The nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of this bacterium was determined. Construction of phylogenetic tree revealed very close relationship of this isolate with B. subtilis strain CICCI0163 and another Bacillus sp. strain Q-12~ This findings correlate with other findings by other investigators. The only difference they could detect is that there was very low sequence homology between liquefYing amylase of B. amyloliquefaciens and saccharifying amylase of B. subtilis. Optimization production of alpha-amylase enzyme from B. amyloliquefaciens UMASI002 was also determined by a series of optimization schemes. The outcome revealed that maximum activity of alpha-amylase was obtained using Bacillus defined medium at pH6.0, with soluble starch concentration of 2% (w/v) and incubated at 45°C for 12 hours. Highest specific activity obtained using these defined conditions are 34771.2 U/mg. An extra cellular alpha-amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens UMASI002 was partially purified through a series of four steps and the purity of enzymes was analyzed using SDS-PAGE. SDS-PAGE showed multiple bands for the partially purified enzyme, with an apparent molecular weight of 75 kDA, 55 kDA and 20 .... kDA. The optimum pH and temperature for the enzyme action on starch was 5.5 - 6.5 and 55°C - 65°C, respectively. This enzyme is stable in the pH range of 5.5 to 6.5 and the temperature range of 30°C to 45°C (after incubation at defined temperature for 2 hours). A molecular manipulation on the enzyme could lead to an enhanced thermo stability of this enzyme. The gene encoding putative alpha-amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens UMASI002 was cloned in pGEMT vector and sequenced. The fragment was obtained by peR method and expression study was done by cloning the fragment into pET41a (+) expression vector and transformed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The nucleotide sequence of the gene predicts a 179-amino acid protein with an estimated molecular mass of 19481 Da, which corresponds well with the value obtained from the third band of the partially purified enzyme using SDS-PAGE. The predicted amino acid sequence showed low homology with Arabidopsis thaliana, Corynebacterium diptheriae and Arthrobacter sp. FB24 alpha-amylases. The positive clones obtained failed to express alpha-amylase and this might be due to lack of conserved region present in the sequence which responsible for the catalytic activity in alpha-amylase

Checklist of Fish Specimens in the Zoological Museum of Institute for Biodiversity (IBD), Bukit Rengit, Lanchang, Pahang of Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP)

The museum fish collection has a total of 437 specimens of freshwater fishes from 13 orders and families. A total of 76 valid species was listed, encompasses of 16.5% and 24.9% of the total fish species known to Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia, respectively. 70 species are native to Malaysia, three are introduced (Barbonymus gonionotus, Oreochromis mossambicus, and Betta splendens), and one reintroduced (Trichogaster pectoralis). Clarias batu is listed as endemic while the native status of two species (Coilia nasus and Mystus vittatus) is questionable as both species are not listed as indigenous to Malaysia

Karyotypic and mtDNA based characterization of Malaysian water buffalo

Abstract Background In Malaysia, the domestic water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are classified into the swamp and the murrah buffaloes. Identification of these buffaloes is usually made via their phenotypic appearances. This study characterizes the subspecies of water buffaloes using karyotype, molecular and phylogenetic analyses. Blood of 105 buffaloes, phenotypically identified as swamp, murrah and crossbred buffaloes were cultured, terminated and harvested using conventional karyotype protocol to determine the number of chromosomes. Then, the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA of 10 swamp, 6 crossbred and 4 murrah buffaloes which were identified earlier by karyotyping were used to construct a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Results Karyotypic analysis confirmed that all 93 animals phenotypically identified as swamp buffaloes with 48 chromosomes, all 7 as crossbreds with 49 chromosomes, and all 5 as murrah buffaloes with 50 chromosomes. The D-loop of mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that 10 haplotypes were observed with haplotype diversity of 0.8000 ± 0.089. Sequence characterization revealed 72 variables sites in which 67 were parsimony informative sites with sequence diversity of 0.01906. The swamp and murrah buffaloes clearly formed 2 different clades in the phylogenetic tree, indicating clear maternal divergence from each other. The crossbreds were grouped within the swamp buffalo clade, indicating the dominant maternal swamp buffalo gene in the crossbreds. Conclusion Thus, the karyotyping could be used to differentiate the water buffaloes while genotypic analysis could be used to characterize the water buffaloes and their crossbreds

Distribution and Composition of Freshwater Fishes in Jempol and Serting River, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Surveys on the distribution of fish fauna in Serting River and Jempol River, Negeri Sembilan were conducted from 24-30thMarch 2002. Collection was made at eight stations where river conditions varied from highly disturbed to undisturbed. A total of 41 fish species belonging to 16 families was identified. Analyses based on the number of individuals caught showed that 79.7% of total catch was represented by the Cyprinid. Present study showed that both rivers were inhabited by several introduced species such as Clarias gariepinus, Colossoma sp., Hypostomus sp. and Oreochromis sp. Species diversity, density and richness were also calculated for all the stations