Population genetic pattern of the freshwater fish Amur sleeper (Perccottus glenii) across its native distribution area in China

The Amur sleeper ( Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877), which inhabits the Far East of Eurasia, is a fish capable of adapting to cold waters, including frozen water bodies. Therefore, it is a suitable vertebrate model for research on cryopreservation of entire organisms. However, the fish population has been decreasing annually and there is an urgent need to protect them. In this study, the genetic pattern in nine eco-geographical regions of Perccottus glenii from four water bodies across its native distributional area in China was explored by microsatellite markers. We found a high total genetic diversity ( Ht : 0.4639) and a relatively low genetic diversity within populations ( Hs : 0.1029). AMOVA revealed that 51% of the genetic variation occurred within individuals and 42% of the genetic variation occurred among populations. Among different sampled populations, high genetic differentiation ( GST : 0.4024) was observed. Populations inhabiting Wusuli River, Fuyuan and Songhua River were found to be highly diverse, while populations inhabiting Hunchun and Ji’an were least diverse. A significant bottleneck was found in five populations and a significant Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was found in seven populations. Population structure analysis divided P. glenii populations into four clusters. The first cluster included the populations located downstream of the Amur River, the second cluster was comprised of the Liaohe River population and the populations located upstream and in the middle of the Amur River. The third and fourth clusters were composed of populations located in the Tumen River and Yalu River, respectively. These findings indicate that the conservation management of P. glenii is urgent.