Genetic diversity and population structure of wild Macrobrachium nipponense populations across China: Implication for population management

Background Macrobrachium nipponense, is an important economic indigenous prawn and is widely distributed in China. However, most these genetic structure analysis researches were focused on a certain water area, systematic comparative studies on genetic structure of M. nipponense across China are not yet available. Methods and results In this study, D-loop region sequences was used to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of 22 wild populations of M. nipponense through China, containing the major rivers and lakes of China. Totally 473 valid D-loop sequences with a length of 1110 bp were obtained, and 348 variation sites and 221 haplotypes were detected. The haplotype diversity (h) was ranged from 0.1630 (Bayannur) similar to 1.0000 (Amur River) and the nucleotide diversity pi value ranged from 0.001164 (Min River) similar to 0.037168 (Nen River). The pairwise genetic differentiation index (F-ST) ranged from 0.00344 to 0.91243 and most pair-wised F-ST was significant (P < 0.05). The lowest F-ST was displayed in Min River and Jialing River populations and the highest was between Nandu River and Nen River populations. The phylogenetic tree of genetic distance showed that all populations were divided into two branches. The Dianchi Lake, Nandu River, Jialing River and Min River populations were clustered into one branch. The neutral test and mismatch distribution results showed that M. nipponense populations were not experienced expanding and kept a steady increase. Conclusions Taken together, a joint resources protection and management strategy for M. nipponense have been suggested based on the results of this study for its sustainable use.