Population genetic diversity of the northern snakehead (Channa argus) in China based on the mitochondrial DNA control region and adjacent regions sequences

Genetic variation and population structure of northern snakehead (Channa argus) from eight locations in China were investigated using mitochondrial DNA control region and adjacent regions sequences. Sequence analysis showed that there were 105 haplotypes in 260 individuals, 48 unique haplotypes and 57 shared haplotypes, but no common haplotype shared by all populations. As a whole, the haplotype diversity was high (h = 0.989), while the nucleotide diversity was low (pi = 0.00482). AMOVA analysis detected significant genetic differentiation among all eight populations (F-ST = 0.328, p<0.01) and 66.17% of the total variance was resulted from intra-population differentiation. UPGMA analysis indicated that the eight populations could be divided into four major clusters, which was consistent with that the eight sampled locations were belonged to four isolated river systems. The neutrality and mismatch distribution tests suggested that the eight populations of C. argus in the sampling locations underwent recent population expansion. Among the eight populations, the Erhai Lake population may represent a unique genetic resource and therefore needs to be conserved.