Genetic diversity and population structure of Artemia franciscana from southeast coast of India

The invader brine shrimp Artemia franciscana is a micro-crustacean with diverse morphology and morphometric traits that are found in hypersaline habitats of Asian countries. In this study, we used the mtDNA control region to assess the impact of colonization of A. franciscana on genetic diversity and population structure encountered in different sampling sites of the southeast coast of India. Samples were collected from four hypersaline habitats includes Kelambakkam (KBM); Vedaranyam (VDM); Tuticorin (TUT) and Nagarcoil (NGC). Genetic diversity of the populations were assessed based on the sequence of a conserved region of the mtDNA control region (CR). For this study, a primer based on the conserved region of a closely related crustacean group was used to sequence the 493 bp of the mtDNA CR. Results indicated a clear demarcation with the existence of sequence divergence between the populations studied. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic studies revealed that the population of TUT, VDM and NGC formed a single cluster whereas the KBM formed a separate cluster with distinct genetic characteristics. The mean haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity of the four populations were found to be 0.742 ± 0.060 and 0.012 ± 0.016, respectively. Interestingly, we observed that these different populations had unique haplotypes varying with their habitats, demonstrating sequence divergence in the homogenous population of A. franciscana despite them being in a similar geographic zone.