Genetic structure and demographic history should inform conservation: Chinese cobras currently treated as homogenous show population divergence.

ABSTRACT: An understanding of population structure and genetic diversity is crucial for wildlife conservation and for determining the integrity of wildlife populations. The vulnerable Chinese cobra (Naja atra) has a distribution from the mouth of the Yangtze River down to northern Vietnam and Laos, within which several large mountain ranges and water bodies may influence population structure. We combined 12 microsatellite loci and 1117 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to explore genetic structure and demographic history in this species, using 269 individuals from various localities in Mainland China and Vietnam. High levels of genetic variation were identified for both mtDNA and microsatellites. mtDNA data revealed two main (Vietnam + southern China + southwestern China; eastern + southeast

SUBMITTER: Lin LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3338645 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature