AFLP analysis revealed differences in genetic diversity of four natural populations of Manila clam(Ruditapes philippinarum) in China

The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technology was used to analyze the genetic diversities in four natural populations of Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum), distributed in four sea areas of China, i.e., the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea.Two hundred and sixty-four AFLP loci were analysed in 195 individuals and revealed high levels of genetic diversity.The percentage of polymorphic loci ranged from 92.13% to 96.06% and the Shannon's information index was from 0.256 8 to 0.275 6.By analyzing molecular variance (AMOVA), it was found that there were high levels of genetic differentiation between populations of Qingdao and the other three sea areas.Cluster analysis by Nei's pairwise distances grouped specimens by geographical origin, except the population of Qingdao.A conclusion can be drawn that there are high genetic diversities in the four natural populations of Manila clam in China and some distinct differences existed among and between the four populations.The results also indicated that human cultivation activities will have great influence on the genetic structure of the population of Qingdao.