The population structure and genetic divergence of Labeo gonius (Hamilton, 1822) analyzed through mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene for conservation in Indian waters

The present study explains the population structure and genetic diversity of medium carp Labeo gonius by analyzing partial sequence of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene. Labeo gonius is a lower risk Near Threatened species, distributed throughout the North Indian major rivers, reservoirs and lakes. This species has a larger scope as an alternative candidate species in carp aquaculture system. In the present investigation, 223 individuals of Labeo gonius were collected from five locations of phylogeographically isolated riverine ecosystems of India resulted in 12 haplotypes. These haplotypes showed 14 variables, out of which 9 were singletons and 5 were parsimony informative sites of nucleotide positions. The haplotypes H1 was considered as ancestral haplotype. All the haplotypes were connected to each other by 1-4 nucleotide mutations. The Narmada haplotypes (H10; H11 and H12) were isolated from H1 by four nucleotide mutations. The analyses resulted maximum expansion events (tau = 4.13672) in Narmada, with Fst scores more than other population pairs. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed significant genetic differentiation among populations (phi ST = 0.69470, p<.000). The genetic differentiation patterns were significantly consistence with geographical distributions. This study rejected the null hypothesis of single panmictic population of medium carp, Labeo gonius in Indian water.