Genetic Variation Analysis in Wild and Cultured Subpopulations of Small Abalone Haliotis diversicolor Estimated by Microsatellite Markers

Abstract

The small abalone Haliotis diversicolor is an economically important shellfish species in southern China. Wild (Japanese, Guangdong, and Hainan) and cultured (Taiwanese and Vietnamese) subpopulations of small abalone were examined using seven microsatellite loci to assess the levels of genetic diversity and the degree of genetic differentiation among them. These seven microsatellite markers showed a high level of polymorphism. A total of 209 alleles were detected, with an average of 29.86 alleles per locus among the five subpopulations. The average observed heterozygosities per locus ranged from 0.733 in the Japanese subpopulation to 0.804 in the Hainan subpopulation, while the average expected heterozygosities per locus ranged from 0.909 in the Vietnamese subpopulation to 0.940 in the Guangdong subpopulation. Values for the differentiation index D _est varied from 0.1071 to 0.4020 among different subpopulations. The values for genetic distance (D _A) ranged from 0.244 to 0.409, with an average of 0.294. Both D _est and D _A showed that the largest distance was between the Japanese and Vietnamese subpopulations. Principal coordinate analysis was performed for all subpopulations and loci using genetic distance to summarize genetic relationships. The analysis indicated a grouping of the three wild subpopulations (Japanese, Guangdong, and Hainan). The Vietnamese subpopulation was plotted separately from others. The information on the genetic variation and differentiation in the wild and cultured subpopulations obtained in this study is useful for the development of guidelines for genetic breeding programs for small abalone.

Received November 8, 2010; accepted February 22, 2011

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by grants from the Hi-Tech Research and Development (863) Program of China (2010AA10A401), the Shellfish Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (nycytx-47), the Cooperation Project in Industry, Education and Research of Guangdong Province and Ministry of Education (2009B090300159), and the Transformation Fund for Agricultural Science and Technology Achievements (2010GB23600665). The authors thank Professor John Hodgkiss and Giuseppe Insana for English language correction.