Population Structure of the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin as Determined byRestriction Endonuclease Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA

摘要

The bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, is widely used for scientificresearch and public display. Little is known about the stability of populations or the amount of gene exchange among them. Knowledge of the discreteness of these populations is essential for implementation of sound management practices. In the study, we used restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to: (1) test the utility of mtDNA for analysis of discreteness of bottlenose dolphin populations, and (2) analyze the distribution of genetic variation within and among bottlenose dolphin populations. Both systematic and population genetic approaches were used to examine the discreteness of bottlenose dolphin populations from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with special emphasis on the Gulf of Mexico. High levels of sequence divergence among populations would suggest historical restrictions to gene flow and significant differences in the frequency of haplotypes shared among populations would be indicative of existing disruption of gene flow.