Genetic structure and phylogeographic relationships of the Bellamya complex: A nascent aquacultural snail in the Pearl River basin, China

The current genetic structure of a species is determined by both historical demographics and contemporary gene flow among populations. As an economically important snail in China, Bellamya has attracted much attention for its breeding and aquaculture and has provided a good study system for this theoretical structure. Our results showed that high genetic diversity occurred in most populations distributed in the Pearl River basin, except for the population in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A lack of distinct genealogical branches or geographic clades was found for the Bellamya complex across the Pearl River basin. Nevertheless, low but significant genetic structure and high differentiation were detected between Anshun (in Guizhou Province) and other geographic populations segregated by the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, suggesting that geographic barriers exist around this region, while this scenario was not applicable to the populations in Yuxi, Yunnan Province. The demographic history described a relatively stable pattern before the last glacial period, but the effective population sizes have drastically decreased since the late Pleistocene. The lack of genetic structure across the Pearl River basin is mainly attributed to a high level of gene flow by passive migration due to flooding and anthropogenic and animal translocation. The vicariance caused by the uplift of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau during the early Pleistocene likely contributed to the divergence of the plateau and plain sublineages in the Pearl River basin. A genetic diversity and phylogeography analysis are valuable to developing further guidance on breeding and conservation strategies for Bellamya germplasm resources.