Investigating the Genetic Diversity of Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) Using 6 Microsatellite Markers in Iran

Subject Areas : Journal of Animal Biology

Shabnam Chavoshi ¹ , Jalil Imany Harsini ² , Hamid Reza Rezaei ³ , Pargol Ghavam Mostafavi ⁴

1 - 1- Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - 1- Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - 2- Department of Environment, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
4 - 1- Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2024-06-12 Accepted : 2024-08-15 Published : 2025-01-12

Keywords: Aythya ferina, Genetic diversity, Microsatellite,

Abstract :

The study of the genetic structure and diversity of the common pochard (Aythya ferina) in Iran was carried out using microsatellites. 30 pochards were sampled from the Caspian Sea and the Hor-al-Azim Wetland during 2019-2021. DNA extraction and amplification of microsatellite target genes were performed with the relevant primers and statistical analyses were performed with Gene Alex, GelAnalayzer, Arlequin, and MEGA software. The highest number of true alleles, 7 alleles, were observed at the Alp36 locus in the southern population, and the lowest number of true alleles, 2 alleles, were observed at the Alp36 locus in the northern population. The highest number of effective alleles with a frequency of 5.000 in the northern population was Smo11 and the lowest number of effective alleles in the northern and southern populations was 2.000 at the Alp2 and Alp36 loci. The range of heterozygosity observed in all loci of the populations was between 0.133 and 1.000, and the highest heterozygosity observed in Alp36 in the northern region and Sfiq4 in the southern region with a frequency of 1.000, and the lowest value in the northern region was observed in Mmo3 with a frequency of 0.133. The range of expected heterozygosity (He) between the sampling regions at the loci was between 0.491 and 0.800. The highest amount of expected heterozygosity in all regions was observed in the Smo11 locus in the north and the least amount of expected heterozygosity was observed in the Mmo3 locus in the south. Fst was calculated to be 0.25. According to the allele results, since Fst is less than 0.33 and all the studied loci showed significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (except for two loci sfiq4 and smo11 in the southern population which were not significant), it indicates low genetic differences between populations and high gene flow within Iranian populations. Also, the drawn phylogenetic tree shows high gene flow within populations.

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