Geographic Genetic Contour of a Ground Beetle, Scarites aterrimus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on the Basis of Mitochondrial DNA Sequence

Abstract

The Scarites aterrimus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), is one of the carabid beetles dwelling exclusively on coastal sandy dunes. Habitat deterioration and equivalent activity have greatly concerned population declines in several species dwelling on the coastal sandy dunes. As a first step to establish long-term conservation strategy, we investigated the nation-wide magnitude and nature of genetic diversity of the species. As a first step, we sequenced a portion of mitochondrial COI gene, corresponding to "DNA Barcode" region (658 bp) from a total of 24 S. aterrimus individuals collected over nine sandy dunes belonging to four Korean provinces. The sequence analysis evidenced moderate to low magnitude of sequence diversity compared with other insect species distributed in Korean peninsula (0.152% to 0.912%). The presence of closely related haplotypes and relatively high gene flow estimate collectively suggest that there had been no historical barriers that bolster genetic subdivision. Population decline was postulated on the basis of several missing haplotypes that are well found in the species with a large population size. This interpretation is consistent with field observation of small population size in the coastal sandy dune habitats. The highest genetic diversity estimates were found in the coastal sand dune population of Seogwipo, Jeju Island, justifying a prior attention to the population, in order to sustain overall genetic diversity of the species. Further scrutinized study might be required for further robust conclusion.

COII Sequence-based Study for Population Genetic Variation of a Ground Beetle, Scarites aterrimus (Coleoptera : Carabidae)

“…Pairwise comparison between pairs of haplotypes has shown sequence divergence ranging only from 0.145% to 0.291% (one ~ two nucleotides) (Table 4). This result indicates that COII gene is somewhat more conserved compared to COI gene in that COI sequence has provided ten haplotypes ranged from 0.152% to 0.912% (one ~ six nucleotides) (Wang et al, 2011). With regard to distribution COIISA01 showed the widest distribution, accounting for seven of nine localities, composed of 69.6% (16 of 23) of samples utilized in this study (Table 1).…”

“…Sampling, DNA extraction, primer, PCR, and sequencing Samples used in this study are identical to those used in Wang et al (2011), wherein a total of 24 individuals collected from 9 Korean localities were employed, excluding one individual ( Fig. 1 and Table 1).…”

“…Due to the habitat diminishment population decline was concerned for the carabid beetles including S. aterrimus (Kim, 1980(Kim, , 2003. In order to understand the nation-wide magnitude and nature of genetic diversity of the species as a first step to establish long-term conservation strategy, we previously investigated the sequence divergence, geographic variation, and population genetic structure of the species collected from several sandy beaches of Korean coasts (East Sea, West Sea, and South Sea) and a remote island Jeju (Wang et al, 2011). From the sequencing of a total of 24 S. aterrimus individuals collected over nine sandy dunes belonging to four Korean provinces resulted in moderate to low magnitude of sequence diversity, the presence of closely related haplotypes, and relatively high gene flow estimate.…”

Genetic diversity of the dung beetle, Copris tripartitus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), that is endangered in Korea

“…; Wang et al . ). Furthermore, the region we employed is widely used as a “DNA Barcode” (Hebert et al .…”

“…For the purpose of this study, we sequenced the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (CytB) genes from mtDNA and complete internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) from nuclear ribosomal RNA. Previously, mitochondrial COI gene sequences have been used to better understand geographic variations of insects in the Korean peninsula, particularly for several species of Coleoptera Lee et al 2003;Park et al 2011;Wang et al 2011). Furthermore, the region we employed is widely used as a "DNA Barcode" (Hebert et al 2003) and has been recommended for early insight into the patterning of genomic diversity within species (Hajibabaei et al 2007).…”