Genetic diversity in the bronze gudgeon, Coreius heterodon, from the Yangtze River system based on mtDNA sequences of the control region

• Published in: Environmental biology of fishes 2008-05, Vol.82 (1), p.35-40
• Main Authors: Yan, Li, Wang, Dengqiang, Fang, Yaoling, Liu, Shaoping, Duan, Xinbing, Chang, Yonghua, Chen, Daqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal and plant ecology; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bronzes; Conservation management; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Coreius heterodon; Dam construction; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Divergence; DNA; Economic importance; Endangered & extinct species; Environment; Fish; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene sequencing; General aspects; Genetic diversity; Genetic structure; Genetic variability; Genetic variation; Haplotypes; Life Sciences; Low level; Marine conservation; Microsatellites; Mitochondrial DNA; Nature Conservation; Nucleotide sequence; Nucleotides; Overfishing; Pollution; Polymorphism; Population genetics; Populations; Rivers; Tributaries; Variance analysis; Vertebrata; Zoology
• ISSN: 0378-1909; 1573-5133
• DOI: 10.1007/s10641-007-9248-z

The bronze gudgeon, Coreius heterodon (Bleeker), is an economically important species, which only inhabits the Yangtze River. The stock declined drastically in recent years due to dam construction, over-fishing, and pollution. Little is known about its population genetic structure. In this study, the sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control regions of natural bronze gudgeon was determined for fish collected from four sites in the Yangtze River (n = 102). The molecular data were used to estimate the genetic diversity and differentiation of the bronze gudgeon. The results showed that 28 haplotypes and 22 variable sites were found, and the haplotype diversity (π) and nucleotide diversity (h) were 0.849 and 0.00257, respectively. A low level of genetic diversity exists in the bronze gudgeon. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) suggests that 98.8% of the genetic variability occurred within the populations; the site of collection had little influence on diversity. Future research should focus on investigating the genetic divergence of populations in different tributaries and using additional polymorphic markers, such as microsatellite DNA, to verify the results and improve interpretation.