Notice of RetractionGenetic diversity and conservation strategies of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri (gray) populations

Notice of Retraction

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The genetic diversity of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri populations from Xiamen has been analyzed by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique. High genetic diversity was detected among four B. belcheri populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 1.8870 to 1.8942 and the effective number of alleles per locus ranged from 1.3692 to 1.3884. The percentage of polymorphic loci, the gene diversity index, and Shannon´s Information index ranged from 88.70 % to 89.42%, from 0.2326 to 0.2425 and from 0.3675 to 0.3825. The genetic differentiation was low. The G_ST value among four populations was 0.0240, the average genetic distance among the four populations ranged from 0.0062 to 0.0108, the gene flow among the four populations was 20.3717. The analysis of UPGMA clustered the four populations into two groups. Based on the genetic differentiation of the four populations and the distinctive ecological habit of B. belcheri, conservation strategies are given.