Population structure of Tor tor inferred from mitochondrial gene cytochrome b

Abstract

Tor tor, commonly called as Tor mahseer, is a high-valued food and game fish endemic to trans-Himalayan region. Mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene region of 967 bp was used to estimate the population structure of T. tor. Three populations of T. tor were collected from Narmada (Hosangabad), Ken (Madla), and Parbati river (Sheopur) in Madhya Pradesh, India. The sequence analysis revealed that the nucleotide diversity (π) was low, ranging from 0.000 to 0.0150. Haplotype diversity (h) ranged from 0.000 to 1.000. The analysis of molecular variance analysis indicated significant genetic divergence among the three populations of T. tor. Neighboring-joining tree also showed that all individuals from three populations clustered into three distinct clades. The data generated by cyt b marker revealed interesting insight about population structure of T. tor, which would serve as baseline data for conservation and management of mahseer fishery.

Keywords::

• Tor tor
• cytochrome b
• mtDNA
• polymorphism
• genetic divergence

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to Director, National Bureau of Fish Genetics Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow, for providing support and laboratory facility.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.