Genetic Diversity of Chanos Chanos (Forsskål, 1775) from Natural Populations in Vietnam

Abstract

The genetic diversity of five natural populations of milkfish (Chanos chanos) collected in Nghe An, Quang Binh, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa provinces in Vietnam was examined using COI gene sequence analysis. Twelve haplotypes were noted from a total of 50 sequences along with 12 variable sites and 6 parsimony informative sites. The Quang Binh milkfish population had the highest haplotype (0.889 ± 0.060) and nucleotide diversities (0.00301 ± 0.00049). Overall, haplotype and nucleotide diversities were 0.804 ± 0.036 and 0.00212 ± 0.00026, respectively. Genetic differentiation (FST) was high between the milkfish populations of Nghe An – Quang Binh (0.21744) and Nghe An - Phu Yen (0.26215). Haplotype network analysis indicated that milkfish populations shared common haplotypes and each population had its own private haplotypes. Population structure and demographic expansion were not evident for all populations except for Quang Binh. This is the first principal endeavor to understand genetic information of milkfish in Vietnam, thereby providing information for scientists, managers, and the general public to establish timely strategies to explore, protect, and develop milkfish genetic resources in the future.