Mitten crab,
Eriocheir sensu stricto, is an important indigenous aquatic species and food source in Eastern Asia. Genetic diversity is an important prerequisite for the conservation and utilization of germplasm resources. However, the genetic diversity and differentiation of
Eriocheir s. s. remains
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Mitten crab,
Eriocheir sensu stricto, is an important indigenous aquatic species and food source in Eastern Asia. Genetic diversity is an important prerequisite for the conservation and utilization of germplasm resources. However, the genetic diversity and differentiation of
Eriocheir s. s. remains unclear. This study evaluated population genetic diversity and genetic differentiation of three
Eriocheir s. s. populations from Suifenhe (SFH), Liaohe (LH), and Nanliujiang (NLJ), China, based on 19 microsatellite markers. The mean observed number of alleles (
Na) was 22.84 alleles, and the mean polymorphism information content (
PIC) was 0.86, which demonstrated high genetic diversity. The allele frequency distribution showed an “L” shape, ranging from 0.01 to 0.74. The genetic diversity parameter values of the LH population were higher than those of the other two populations. All pairwise
FST values showed significant differences among the three
Eriocheir s. s. populations (
p < 0.01). The value of Nei’s genetic distance (
DS) varied from 0.31 (between SFH and NLJ populations) to 0.33 (between SFH and LH populations). Overall, The results illustrate that the three wild
Eriocheir s. s. populations have high genetic diversity and high genetic differentiation. This study provides the basis for
Eriocheir s. s. utilization in China.
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