Designing a Local Molecular Database to Facilitate the Identification of Mammal Species Habitats in Iran

 Identification and protection of habitats are essential to protect wildlife. Identifying the habitats used by some mammal species with low population density requires the application of practical techniques in this field. Molecular studies on mammalian remains in nature and genome sequencing have facilitated the process of identifying habitats as well as monitoring their populations. Therefore, designing and launching a local molecular database to identify the sequences obtained from mammalian remains and ultimately facilitate the identification of their habitats is the main purpose of this study. For this purpose, some Iranian mammal species that were in conservation categories according to national laws or IUCN criteria, as well as the keystone species, were selected for this study. The non-invasive sampling of different mammalian species was performed from all over Iran and two gene regions including D-loop and COXI were chosen for sequencing. Additional sequences of the selected species belonging to D-loop, COXI, and Cyt b mitochondrial genes were also obtained from NCBI and a Local Molecular Database (LMD) was prepared. The performance of the LMD was determined using a known query sequence, and the database recognized the query sequence correctly. This database potentially enables the correct identification of the studied mammals’ habitats by identifying sequences belonging to species that remain in their habitats and resolves the existing challenges in the field of habitat identification and conservation planning.