Genetic characterizations of Mactra veneriformis (Bivalve) along the Chinese coast using ISSR-PCR markers

The genetic structure of seven different populations of the surf clam Mactra veneriformes along the coast of China was investigated by Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) fingerprinting of 210 individual clams. Of the 240 ISSR loci tested, 235 (97.9%) were polymorphic. We found a clear tendency for higher FST values and lower gene flow levels between the populations with increasing geographical separation. The seven different geographic populations can be divided into three subgroups: Liaoning, Qingdao/Lianyungang, and Ningbo based on the UPGMA dendrogram of Nei's genetic distance. These results indicated that isolation of geographic distance played an important role in population differentiation.