Development of method for identification of whale species using transposable elements

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Based on the presence or the absence of a SINE (Short inteispersed repetitive element) sequence at or sites in a genome, we attemped to detect genetic differences, using flanking PCR, among different species of whales The obtained results showed that some of the isolated loci have insertion of a SINE sequence which is specific to one of the families or superfamilies of whales as follows (the names of the loci were shown in parentheses) Delphinoidea (the locus Mago19), Iniidae (the locus Amz11), Ziphiidae (the loci Tuti24, 28, and 35), Physeteridae (the loci Spm4, 9, 13, 15, and 49), and Balaenopteridae (the Loci Hump20 and 203) In addition to these, we also isolated Spm2, 10, and 14, all of which exhibit insertions unique to the sperm whale By a single PCR experiment for detection of the loci above, it is possible to identify those groups of whales clearly Moreover, we isolated other 23 loci (their names are not shown here) that exhibited sharing of a SINE sequence among several groups of the whales Observation of several such loci in combination makes it possible to identify groups of the whales in more detail The present results suggest, from the view point of convenient and accurate identification of whale families, that analysis of SINE insertion is quite efficient In the future, it is expected to become possible to identify SINE-inserted loci that can be used foi identification of species of whales