Mitochondrial DNA Diversity of Monopterus albus from the Sichuan Basin of China

Abstract

Genetic diversity of Monopterus albus in a wild population in the Sichuan Basin was investigated by employing mtDNA polymorphisms. The mitochondrial control region was sequenced for a total of 59 individuals collected from four localities. These sequences (553 bp) belonged to 13 haplotypes defined by eight polymorphic sites. The haplotypes were clustered into one lineage, suggesting that Monopterus albus from the Sichuan Basin might originate from a single ancestor in maternal lineages. The genetic differentiation between the population from Zhongxian in Chongqing city and the other three populations, from Mianyang, Longchang, and Ya'an in Sichuan province (F (ST): 0.29167-0.55126), was higher than that among the latter three (F (ST): -0.04196 to 0.05984). Little genetic differentiation was found in the three populations from Sichuan province (Nm: -6.21 to 3.93), and the Zhongxian population also showed lower genetic heterogeneity (P (i): 0.00077 +/- 0.00027; H (d): 0.404 +/- 0.130). The combination of limited variation and weak phylogenetic structure revealed that the Monopterus albus from the Sichuan Basin exhibited lower mtDNA diversity and should probably be treated as a monogroup genetically.