Genetic diversity in natural populations of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus L.) in north-western Poland on the basis of combined SSR and AFLP data.

Remigiusz Panicz,Sławomir Keszka,Przemysław Śmietana,Magdalena Szenejko,Lidia Skuza,Łukasz Napora-Rutkowski

doi:10.7717/peerj.7301

Abstract

BackgroundConservation of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) populations is becoming particularly important since the number of individuals is rapidly declining across the distribution range of the species in Europe. Five crayfish populations in northwestern Poland have been constantly monitored for two decades. However, the genetic structure of these populations has not been analysed, although this information is important to devise effective conservation strategies.MethodsNoble crayfish were collected in the autumn of 2014 by scuba diving in Lakes Graniczne, Babinki, Biwakowe, Sęki and Kwisno, all of which are situated in the Bytów Lakeland of northwestern Poland. Genetic diversity of the five populations was assessed based on allele variability in nine SSR regions and six AFLP primer combinations.ResultsMicrosatellite results analysed with AMOVA showed that the diversity between populations corresponds to 18% of total variability, which was confirmed by similar results obtained using AFLP. Additionally, significant genetic diversity was revealed by high average FST values. All of the studied crayfish populations significantly deviated from the expected Hardy–Weinberg genetic equilibrium and were characterised by negative values of inbreeding coefficient (FIS).DiscussionThe invariably negative inbreeding coefficients (FIS) suggest a low number of mating individuals, a possible consequence of the phenomenon known as genetic bottleneck. However, additional comprehensive analyses are needed to assess the genetic structure, origin and vulnerability of the remaining populations of noble crayfish in the Bytów Lakeland of northwestern Poland, which have high conservation value and are particularly important as a live genetic bank for breeding and restitution purposes.

Highlights

The region of Pomerania in northwestern Poland is of unique importance for crayfish monitoring
This is due to the fact that biotically driven changes in the structure of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus L.) populations reflect those occurring in the native range of the species and have proved to be especially dynamic over the past 120 years
It is well accepted that noble crayfish populations are highly vulnerable to habitat loss, to alien species competing for food and space, and to pathogens such as the water mould Aphanomyces astaci as the causative agent of the fatal crayfish plague (Śmietana, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

The region of Pomerania in northwestern Poland is of unique importance for crayfish monitoring This is due to the fact that biotically driven changes in the structure of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus L.) populations reflect those occurring in the native range of the species and have proved to be especially dynamic over the past 120 years. Conservation of noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) populations is becoming important since the number of individuals is rapidly declining across the distribution range of the species in Europe. Additional comprehensive analyses are needed to assess the genetic structure, origin and vulnerability of the remaining populations of noble crayfish in the Bytów Lakeland of northwestern Poland, which have high conservation value and are important as a live genetic bank for breeding and restitution purposes

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