Diversity of The Araceae Family in The Batutegi Protected Forest, Tanggamus, Lampung Based on Morphological and Molecular Characteristics

Indonesia has a tropical climateborderingtheequator,soit has a diverse biodiversity.Batutegi ProtectedForest, Tanggamusis a lowland rainforest.Plantsoftropicalflora,including Araceae (taro),has a diversity level of 25% (31genera)ofplantsfound worldwide.Morphological and molecular characteristics can be used to analyze diversity.The aim of thisstudywasto determine the diversity of Araceae plants based on morphological and molecular characteristics using DNA barcodes in the Batutegi Protected Forest area and the differences in marker genes matK, ITSand rbcLin determining the diversity of Araceae plants.Thestudywas conductedin January-May2023.Sampling was conducted in BatutegiReserveForest Tanggamus,Lampung using theexplorationmethod.Morphological identification wasperformedthrough theherbariumcollection in Herbarium Bogoriense,while molecular identification wasperformed usingDNA barcoding with three markergenes including ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase(rbcL), Maturase K(matK)andan internal transcribed spacer(ITS).Based on thestudies conducted,it can be concluded that the Araceae plants found in the BatutegiProtectedForest, Tanggamus ofLampunghave appropriate species resultsin terms ofmorphological and molecular characteristics.ThematKmarker gene performs better than ITSandrbcLwith evidence ofhigheramplification successratesand a more informative phylogenetic tree.