AUTHOR=Liu Bingjian , Zhang Kun , Zhu Kehua , Shafi Muhammad , Gong Li , Jiang Lihua , Liu Liqin , Muhammad Faiz , Lü Zhenming 

TITLE=Population Genetics of Konosirus punctatus in Chinese Coastal Waters Inferred From Two mtDNA Genes (COI and Cytb)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00534

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2020.00534

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Konosirus punctatus</italic> inhabits areas of significant commercial importance in Chinese coastal waters. Twelve populations distributed all along the Chinese coast were analyzed using two mtDNA genes. The cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (Cytb) genes were amplified from 242 and 259 individuals, respectively, and fragments of 999 and 415 bp sequence in length were used for analysis. COI and Cytb denoted a high haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity. The COI mtDNA gene revealed a high molecular variance within populations and low variance among populations, whereas Cytb showed a high variance among populations and low within populations. <italic>F</italic><sub>ST</sub> values obtained for COI and Cytb showed low genetic differentiation among the populations, except for the Zhongshan population where the Cytb gene showed high F<sub>ST</sub> values. The constructed phylogenetic tree and haplotype network tree showed a single lineage, however, Cytb gene data showed that the Zhongshan population has a greater difference level within a population. The present investigation contributed to existing knowledge of the genetic structure of <italic>K. punctatus</italic> and can be useful for its future conservation.</p>