title: Genetic diversity and differentiation of the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) between and within cultured stocks and wild populations inferred from microsatellite DNA analysis.
abstract: In the present study, we employed microsatellite DNA markers to analyze the genetic diversity and differentiation between and within cultured stocks and wild populations of the orange-spotted grouper originating from the South China Sea and Southeast Asia. Compared to wild populations, genetic changes including reduced genetic diversity and significant differentiation have taken place in cultured grouper stocks, as shown by allele richness and heterozygosity studies, pairwise F(st), structure, molecular variance analysis, as well as multidimensional scaling analysis. Although two geographically adjacent orange-spotted grouper populations in China showed negligible genetic divergence, significant population differentiation was observed in wild grouper populations distributed in a wide geographical area from China, through Malaysia to Indonesia. However, the Mantel test rejected the isolation-by-distance model of genetic structure, which indicated the genetic differentiation among the populations could result from the co-effects of various factors, such as historical dispersal, local environment, ocean currents, river flows and island blocks. Our results demonstrated that microsatellite markers could be suitable not only for genetic monitoring cultured stocks but also for revealing the population structuring of wild orange-spotted grouper populations. Meanwhile, our study provided important information for breeding programs, management of cultured stocks and conservation of wild populations of the orange-spotted grouper.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and the Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; E-Mails: wangle@student.sysu.edu.cn (L.W.); lsslxc@mail.sysu.edu.cn (X.L.); lsszy@mail.sysu.edu.cn (Y.Z.); lsslhr@mail.sysu.edu.cn (H.L.).
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zining
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Haoran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001492:Bass / Q000235:genetics*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic