Applications of PCR-RFLPs for differentiating two freshwater sponges: Ephydatia fluviatilis and Ephydatia mulleri

The two freshwater sponges Ephydatia fluviatilis and Ephydatia mulleri belong to the widespread Spongillidae family. Their morphological tracts are very similar and can be distinguished mainly on the basis of their gemmuloscleres. However, when gemmules are absent it is essential to have an unambiguous species attribution for a population genetic study based on fresh tissues and historical collections. This article reports a simple Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis, applied to DNA extracted from both gemmules and fresh tissues in order to discriminate between the two congeneric E. fluviatilis and E. mulleri. Such a biomolecular method is based on the discriminative enzymes’ digestion of each of the three amplified fragments 5.8S-ITS2-28S, D3 domain of the 28S subunit and COI. Two restriction enzymes were tested for a 620–642 bp fragment of 5.8S-ITS2-28S and for a 342 bp fragment of the D3 domain of the 28S, one restriction enzyme was tested for a 681 bp fragment codifying for COI. Obtained digestion patterns were diagnostic for each of the two species, providing a relatively simple, fast and cheap method for species attribution compared to sequencing.