Genetic variation of hatchery-produced populations of Haliotis discus hannai and H.discus discus in southern China based on microsatellite DNA

Two hatchery-produced populations of Haliotis discus hannai and two hatchery-produced populations of H.discus discus that were collected from Dongshan (Fujian Province) and Huilai (Guangdong Province) in southern China were studied using four microsatellite DNA loci. The results showed that average range of allele number (A) was between 3.750 and 5.500; average range of effective allele number (N_e) was between 2.941 and 3.885; values of average expected heterozygosity (H_e) ranged from 0.641 to 0.698; values of average observed heterozygosity (H_o) ranged from 0.456 to 0.620; and the average PIC values ranged from 0.558 to 0.645 among the four hatchery produced populations. Genetic diversity of H.discus discus population in Huilai was the highest but that in Dongshan was the lowest among the four populations. AMOVA revealed that genetic variation among the four hatchery-produced populations accounted for 4.78% only but significant (F_SC=0.048, P < 0.001).Pairwise NEI′s genetic distances among hatchery-produced populations ranged from 0.084 to 0.186. Cluster analysis demonstrated that the two hatchery produced populations of H.discus discus had the closest genetic relationship and clustered into one group with Huilai population of H.discus hannai while Dongshan population of H.discus hannai had the most distinct genetic relationship with others. High level of genetic diversity revealed in the present study suggested that genetic selection could benefit hatchery-produced populations. However, there would be a loss of alleles for hatchery-produced populations as compared with wild populations.