Preliminary Molecular Study on Crocodiles (Crocodylus Porosus) in Sarawak

The saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), member of the order Crocodylia is the smallest taxonomic group of the class Reptilia among 24 existing species in the world. Based on the research of morphlogical analyses, Crocodylia is divided into three families namely Alligatoridae, Crocodylidae and Gavialidae. In this study, molecular biology techniques were employed to identify the species of crocodiles from three different places namely Kuching, Sibu and Miri. Cytochrome-b of Sarawak crocodiles was approximately 650bp. Six restriction enzymes namely Alu I, Csp6 I, Msp I, Bam HI, Hind III and Rsa I were used in PCRRFLPs (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragments Length Polymerase). The results suggested that the crocodile samples were same species as they shared similar PCR-RFLPs profiles. Out of four restriction enzymes used, only Alu I, Csp6 I, Msp I and Rsa I enzymes could cut the PCR products