Genetic composition of green turtle feeding grounds in coastal waters of Argentina based on mitochondrial DNA

LAURA PROSDOCIMI; VICTORIA GONZ¨¢LEZ CARMAN; DIEGO ALEJANDRO ALBAREDA; MARIA ISABEL REMIS

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: inglaterra; Año: 2012 vol. 412 p. 37 - 45

0022-0981

The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, like other species of marine turtles, shows great migratory displacement between its nesting and feeding grounds. In an attempt to characterize the southernmost feeding grounds of this species, mtDNA sequence variation of green turtle aggregations in Argentinean waters was studied to elucidate genetic variation and infer possible origins. The goal of the present study is contemplated within the main purpose of the PRICTMA (Regional Program for Sea Turtle Research in Conservation of Argentina) and the Network ASO-Tortugas (Red Atl¨¢ntico Sur Occidental-Tortugas) which are dedicated to promoting conservation studies in marine turtles in the region. A 486-bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region was sequenced from 93 samples of incidentally caught juveniles from 2004 to 2007, revealing 9 haplotypes. Nucleotide and haplotype diversity were similar to those detected in other Brazilian feeding grounds (Ubatuba and Atol das Rocas/Fernando de Noronha). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated significant genetic differentiation among 9 western Atlantic feeding grounds for which data is currently available, suggesting variable contributions from different nesting colonies (FST = 0.29, P