Population genetics of the Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) in Korea inferred from microsatellite marker analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Populations of the Pacific abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, have been severely overexploited over the past few decades in Korea. Information regarding the levels of genetic variability and structure within populations is insufficient for the development of effective strategies for conservation of genetic diversity of this species. To assess the genetic status of this species, we examined variation at six microsatellite loci in 842 individuals of Pacific abalone collected from three hatchery stocks of the main aquaculture areas and eight wild populations, which were two from the East Sea, two from the West Sea and three from the South Sea. High levels of polymorphism at these microsatellite loci were found in both the wild and hatchery populations. The genetic variation in the hatchery stocks [overall number of alleles (N A ) = 24.00; allelic richness (A R ) = 19.71; observed heterozygosity (H O ) = 0.733] was similar to that of the wild (overall N A = 28.13; A R = 22.62; H O = 0.775) populations. Low levels of inbreeding and significant Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium deviations were detected in both the wild and hatchery populations. Significant F ST values were observed for the hatchery stocks and in most cases between the wild and hatchery populations (overall F ST = 0.017, P < 0.01); however, only a Population genetics of Pacific abalone in Korea minor portion of the genetic diversity was distributed between the wild and hatchery populations. These results reflect intensive seedling and stocking practices. This preliminary study showed genetic separation between the eastern and pooled western and southern wild populations in Korea, which was based on the F ST value, phylogenetic tree clustering, PCA and MDS analyses, structure analysis, and AMOVA. This strong biogeographic structure of H. d. hannai in Korea may be considered to be independent management units. This study demonstrates the feasibility of microsatellite analyses for the monitoring of genetic diversity and for revealing the population structure of the wild Pacific abalone. This information will be useful for the proper management and conservation of H. d. hannai in Korea.

Population Genetics of Manila Clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) in China Inferred from Microsatellite Markers

“…Among the available molecular markers, microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have been widely accepted as the popular molecular tools in population genetics and parentage analyses due to their high polymorphism and codominance [ 9 ]. For instance, the application of SSR in population genetics has been reported in a variety of aquatic animals, such as pearl mussel ( Hyriopsis cumingii ), ridgetail white prawn (Exopalaemon carinicauda ), Silond catfish (Silonia silondia ), Pacific abalone ( Haliotis Discus hannai) , blood clam ( Barbatia virescens ) , and crab (Portunus trituberculatus) [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Despite this, most of these microsatellite studies are relying on the traditional silver staining of DNA in polyacrylamide gels, which may cause some typical sources of scoring errors capable of biasing biological conclusions, such as stuttering and null alleles [ 16 ].…”

Microsatellite marker analysis reveals the distinction between the north and south groups of hard clam (Meretrix meretrix) in China

“…Microsatellite markers have been widely used because of their hypervariability, ubiquitous presence, neutrality, abundance, and co-dominance (Tautz, 1989;Weber and May, 1989;An et al, 2012;Ma et al, 2012). Simple sequence repeat loci (microsatellites) identified from the expressed sequence tag database (EST-SSR markers) are generally related to a particular function, such as resistance or growth.…”