Genetic structuring of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) populations through mitochondrial DNA sequences

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in 655 bpfragments of the cytochrome oxidase c subunit I gene, known as the DNA barcode, of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) was evaluated by analyzing 1529 individuals representing 16 populations from the Black Sea, through the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 19 (2.9%) variable sites were found among individuals, and these defined 10 genetically diverged populations with an overall mean distance of 1.2%. The highest nucleotide divergence was found between samples of eastern Mediterranean and northern Aegean (2.2%). Evolutionary history analysis among 16 populations clustered the Mediterranean Sea clades in one main branch and the other clades in another branch. Diverging pattern of the European anchovy populations correlated with geographic dispersion supports the genetic structuring through the Black Sea–Marmara Sea–Aegean Sea–Mediterranean Sea quad.

Keywords::

• Cytochrome oxidase I
• Engraulis encrasicolus
• genetic structuring
• mitochondrial DNA
• molecular phylogeny

Declaration of interest: The present work was supported by Ankara University Biotechnology Institute. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.