Preliminary Study on Genetic Population of the Japanese Eight-barbel Loach in the Upper Kokai River Basin, Tochigi Prefecture Using Microsatellite DNA

Abstract

Preliminary study using microsatellite DNA loci, namely DNA markers, were conducted to elucidate genetic structure of the Japanese eight-barbel loach, Lefua echigonia populations in the upper Kokai River basin, Tochigi Prefecture. 17 existing and two new loci were tested with eight specimens each of five populations collected from the Kokai River and one from the neighboring Ara-kawa River. A total of 12 loci were used for genetic analysis. The average number of alleles per locus was 4.4-5.3 and the average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.527-0.661 and 0.581-0.657, respectively, across the six populations. All populations had similar levels of genetic diversity and did not depart from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genetic differentiation between populations in the Kokai and Ara-kawa Rivers (F_ST=0.147) was higher than an any the Kokai River populations (F_ST=0.078), suggesting that genetic properties of the sampled populations appeared to differ among river basins.