| Summary: | Aim: <i>Mullus barbatus</i> (red mullet) is a commercial fish species naturally distributed from Eastern Atlantic: British Isles to Dakar, Senegal, Canary Islands, Mediterranean and Black Sea. There is no study in our knowledge aimed to determine population genetic structuring and genetic stocks of M. barbatus species in territorial waters of Turkey. Only a few studies have been carried out on their genetics in Turkey which are limited to determination of phylogenetic relationships between species in familia of Mullidae. In this study population genetic structure and genetic diversity of red mullet (<i>Mullus barbatus</i> L.) in Turkish Seas was determined using sequence data of mitochondrial DNA control region.
Material and Methods: Red mullet sample were collected from the Mediterranean Sea (Mersin, Antalya), the Aegean Sea (Ayvalık), Marmara Sea (Bandırma), the Black Sea (Zonguldak, Trabzon, Fatsa and Hopa). mtDNA control region of 410 bp in length were amplified and subsequently sequenced. The sequences were aligned in Bioedit ver 7.1.3.0 (Hall, 1999). Genetic distance between populations (γst) (Nei, 1982), haplotype diversities (h), nucleotide diversities(π) were detected by DNAsp ver. 5.10 (Rozas et al., 2003). Based on pairwise distance matrix data a UPGMA dendogram was constructed by MEGA 5.05 (Kumar et al., 2004). To explain genetic structuring of samples we performed analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) using Arlequin ver. 3.5 (Excoffier et al., 2010).
Results: In total 190 individuals were studied and alignment of partial control region of mtDNA revealed 98 mtDNA haplotypes with 75 polymorphic sites. The average of nucleotide diversities and haplotype diversities were calculated 0,015 and 0,963 respectively. Haplotype and nucleotide (π) diversities among the populations ranged from 0,907 (Zonguldak) to 0,972 (Trabzon) and from 0.0155 (Trabzon) to 0,0114 (Bandırma), respectively. Distance tree based on gammast pairwise comparisons revealed two main clades, the Aegean Sea coupled with the Mediterranean sea and the Black sea. Control region of mtDNA sequence data information of this study showed high genetic diversity and structuring among groups. (Gamma st; 0,140, Nm; 3,05). According to pairwise γSt matrix the highest genetic differentiation was found between Hopa and Ayvalık (γSt: 0.17973) and the lowest genetic differentiation was detected between Bandırma and Zonguldak (γSt: 0,01606).
Conclusions: Determination of genetic structures of fish populations and their genetic diversities are very important for perpetuation of fish populations and sustainable fisheries management. In this way, results of the present study are şmportant not only for the continuity of this species, but also would contribute to the sustainability of other fish species under the fishing pressure.
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