Genetic diversity of an endangered bush frog Pseudophilautus wynaadensis (Jerdon, 1854 “1853”) from the south of Palghat gap, Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Background and aims: Samples of endemic endangered frog species, Pseudophilautus wynaadensis, were assessed with the aid of mitochondrial DNA markers in order to study the pattern of intra specific genetic variation of samples lying south of Palghat gap of the Western Ghats, India. Materials and methods: Partial mitochondrial CO1 and 16S gene sequences were obtained for 21 specimens. Results: Phylogenetic analysis revealed that samples from either side of Palghat gap belonged to a single species. The population of frogs south of Palghat gap showed high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity. The relative gene heterogeneity statistics were low and the gene flow estimates were very high. The AMOVA results showed that 96.05% of the total variations were within the populations. Conclusion: It was concluded that high genetic diversity with relatively little geographic differentiation was found in the populations of P. wynaadensis lying south of Palghat gap.

Keywords:

• CO1
• genetic diversity
• mitochondrial DNA
• 16s

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Kerala Forest Department for sampling permissions.

Declaration of interest

Financial support for this study was provided by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Govt. of Kerala, India.