Population genetic structure of silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus, in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea in Iran and Kuwait waters by using10 Microsatellite Markers

Abstract

The silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus, is distributed in Indo-western pacific ocean, especially in Persian Gulf and Oman sea, and although is widely commercially exploited, the genetics structure of this species is not clear completely. In the present study, the genetic diversity and population structure of Pampus argentus in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea were investigated using microsatellite DNA markers. Genomic DNA from 125 specimens was extracted and PCR amplification performed. Seven loci with reasonable polymorphism were amplified. The results showed that average of observed heterozygosity was ranged from 0.54 while expected heterozygosity was 0.67. After applying the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) test, some loci were found to be significantly deviated from HWE in some populations in which deficiency of heterozygotes was apparent. Population differentiation observed among all populations (P 0.01). The population differentiation (Fst) value between Kuwait and bushehr was the highest and significant (0.087) and between Chabahar and Bushehr (0.021) was the lowest and significant. Genetic distance analysis showed that the largest distance (0.269) was between Khuzestan and Chabahar and the smallest distance (0.075) was between Bushehr and Chabahar. The reported results could be of interest for management and conservation programmes of this species in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea.