Genetic diversity and population structure of Pacific herring Clupea pallasii in the Northeast Asia inferred from mtDNA marker

Abstract

Pacific herring ( Clupea pallasii ) is an important commercial species in the Northeast Asia including China, Korea, Japan, and Russia. To investigate the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation among populations based on mtDNA control region sequence, 122 individuals were collected from the three locations of Korea (Imwon, Pohang, Jinhae) and one location from Japan (Wakasa bay). In addition, 39 and 48 individuals sequence from China (Rongcheng) and Russia (Krasnogorsk) respectively, were downloaded from the Genbank. Analysis of nucleotide sequence of 419 bps revealed the haplotype diversity ranged from 0.9080 to 0.9646 and nucleotide diversity ranged from 0.0098 to 0.0133. Pairwise F ST comparisons evident no significant differentiation among the sampling localities from China, Korea, and Japan. However, Russia population showed significant differentiation from all the Korean populations. Both the neutrality test and mismatch distribution showed that C. pallasii populations experienced a demographic history of population expansion. The starlike minimum spanning tree and haplotype and nucleotide diversity also indicate demographic history of population expansion. • Clupea pallasii showed genetic homogeneity in Korea, Japan and China. • Comparatively low genetic diversity in China population than Korea and Japan. • Historical climatic changes and contemporary factors influence the genetic patterns. • Findings will play an important role in conservation.