Genetic variability revealed with microsatellite markers in an introduced population of the abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino

One of the challenges for the culture of any species is to control the loss of genetic variability, which may result in a decrease in the quality of commercially important traits. The goal of this study is to assess the genetic diversity of a hatchery population of the Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) from the Center for Abalone Production of the Universidad Catolica del Norte (CAP-UCN) that is maintained under a breeding programme. We used six polymorphic microsatellite markers within the cultivated population. The loci Awb033 and Awb079 had the highest number of alleles (11 and 10 respectively) and the loci Awb022 and Awb026 the lowest (two and four respectively). The mean number of alleles per locus was 6.83. The average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.71 and 0.70, respectively, and the average F-IS (f) index was -0.023. We compared the population genetic parameters of the CAP-UCN population with previously published data of wild and hatchery populations of the same species. Results indicate lower genetic diversity estimated as allelic richness in the introduced population with a loss of 11-58% alleles per locus. Despite the high allelic loss, the estimated inbreeding coefficient suggests that the breeding programme carried out in the CAP-UCN has controlled and maintained heterozygosity levels successfully. A temporal study is necessary to determine whether the genetic diversity loss detected was caused during the initial introduction of breeders or to the breeding programme actually implemented.