Mitochondrial Dna Variation and Population Genetic Structure of Snow Trout from Kumaun and Garhwal Himalayan Regions of India

Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii) is one of the economically important coldwater fish, widely used as a food fish in the Himalayan region of India. The present study examined the genetic variations between five geographically isolated populations of S. richardsonii using ATPase 6/8 and COI gene sequences of mitochondrial DNA. Analysis of 25 sequences of ATPase 6/8 gene (842 bp) and 22 sequences of COI gene (847 bp) revealed 16 and 8 haplotypes respectively. The estimated haplotype and nucleotide diversity was high in GR (Gola river, Ranibagh) population (h = 1.00000, π = 0.00475 for ATPase6/8 and h = 0.83333, π = 0.00354 for COI). Results of AMOVA indicated that majority of the genetic variations in both genes are due to variation among populations (65.41 % for ATPase6/8 and 55.57 % for COI gene). The pairwise FST comparison and Neighbour-joining tree revealed low genetic divergence of KU (Kosi river, Uttarwahini) and KR (Kosi river, Ramnagar) population from other populations. The findings of this study showed that variation levels detected by ATPase6/8 and COI gene in population of S. richardsonii were very close to each other and demonstrate utility of ATPase6/8 and COI gene sequences for the population study of S. richardsonii for conservation, breeding and management progammes.