ABSTRACT
Four species of the genus Osteobrama collected from five different sampling sites of Chindwin and Barak river basin of North-East India, namely O. belangeri, O. cotio, O. cunma and O. feae, were characterized. Meristic study showed differences in anal fin rays count and lateral line scales. Morphometric analysis revealed significant differences among Osteobrama species. In Truss analysis, a clear pattern of differentiation was observed among the four species with discriminant function analysis assigning 100% correctly to the particular species. In molecular analysis, four Osteobrama species collected were barcoded with COI and 16S rRNA sequences and phylogenetically these four species formed two distinct clusters, O. belangeri form one separate cluster, from the other three species i.e. O. cotio, O. cunma and O. feae. High-resolution clusters generated (NJ trees) aided the groupings of species corresponding to their genera and families which are in confirmation to the values generated by COI Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery bioinformatics platform.
Subject(s)
Cyprinidae/genetics , Endangered Species , Genetic Speciation , Animal Fins/anatomy & histology , Animal Scales/anatomy & histology , Animals , Cyprinidae/anatomy & histology , Cyprinidae/classification , Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics , Fish Proteins/genetics , Genetic Variation , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/geneticsABSTRACT
Pengba fish, Osteobrama belangeri is a freshwater inhabitant, highly endemic, threatened and economically important minor carp for its food value. In the present investigation, population structure of O. belangeri was examined using mitochondrial ATPase 6/8 gene from geographically distinct locations along the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. A total of 80 individuals were collected belonging to natural and farm populations. The hierarchical analysis of molecular variance and conventional Fst values (0.825 in ATPase 6/8, p < .05) indicated significant genetic structure among populations. The result showed that ATPase 6/8 genes are potential marker in determining the genetic divergence between natural and farm populations of O. belangeri from North-East India.
