Phylogeny and genetic diversity of Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) based on mtDNA cytochrome b in Fars province

In recent years, Hystrix indica as the biggest rodent in Iran has been in conflict with humans regarding the destruction of gardens and agricultural products, and the population of this species has been decreased due to illegal hunting and the use of pesticides and chemical poisons. Meanwhile there is not effective information which provide the possibility of developing a management and conservation plan for this species, so the aim of this study is to investigate the structure and genetic diversity of Hystrix indica in Fars province habitats.

15 quill and tissue samples of this species were collected in the Fars province habitats. After DNA extraction, mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was amplified in 13 samples by polymerase chain reaction and 912 nucleotide pairs of this gene were sequenced and edited for each sample.

Based on the Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Phylogenetic Tree, all the studied samples are related to the same clade and belong to Hystrix indica species. Among the studied samples, only two different haplotypes were identified and the haplotype diversity was equal to 0.282 and the nucleotide diversity was estimated to be 0.00029.

the results showed that haplotype diversity of Hystrix indica is low in Fars province, so it is suggested to avoid further environmental crises like disruption of its food chain, while conducting demographic studies in order to develop a conservation and management plan for this species.