Extremely low genetic variability within and among locations of the greenfish holothurian Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835 in Okinawa, Japan.

ABSTRACT: The greenfish sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus is an economically and ecologically important sea cucumber species throughout its range. This species is widely distributed, inhabiting coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Our study evaluated population genetic structure and levels of genetic diversity in southern Japan. A total of 180 individuals were collected from eight locations from Okinawa and Okinoerabu Islands and sequenced using mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (16S) and nuclear histone H3 (H3) gene. Only three 16S haplotypes were detected (518 bp) with haplotype diversity ranging from 0 to 0.56 and nucleotide diversity from 0 to 0.1%. H3 showed no variation among the studied locations. It is plausible that such results could be due to a shift to asexual reproduction.

SUBMITTER: Soliman T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5045882 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature