DNA Barcoding of Bats from Brazilian Midwest

Brazil has more than 650 described species of mammals, of which 178 are bats. Despite the large number of characters currently used for classification and phylogenetic reconstruction of bat species, the results of most studies are still inconsistent. In recent years, DNA barcoding has become a very effective tool in the identification and delineation of species, allowing inter- and intraspecific comparisons. In this work, the species diversity of Brazilian bats was estimated using partial sequences of 664 base pairs of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI) of 47 specimens of bats captured in the eastern state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, representing 22 species. The analysis also included other bats sequences available in GenBank. The phred software was used to analyze the quality of the sequencing and the multiple alignment of the sequences was done by webPrank software.  The editing of the alignments was done in the Bioedit 7.2.5. In the MEGA 6.0 program the sequences were analyzed by the neighbour-joining (NJ) method, using the model K2P with 1000 bootstrap replications. The bats of eastern Mato Grosso were grouped in the same clusters of samples available in GenBank, with minor variations within each cluster. These variations are due to the distinct geographic locations, indicating genetic diversity within a species. Analyses of interspecific genetic distance for some species were less than 2%, but enough to separate them. This approach proved effective in identifying chiropterofauna and a valuable tool in monitoring programs of Brazilian biodiversity.