Haplotype variation and phylogenetic analyses of three commercially important morphological variants of genus Turbinella from the southeast coast of India based on the 16S rRNA gene

Haplotype variation and phylogenetics of three economically important morphological variants of Turbinella pyrum (Linnaeus, 1767)—var. obtusa, var. acuta, and var. globosa—were elucidated based on molecular analysis of mitochondrial 16S rDNA signatures. Haplotype distribution indicated that the var. obtusa was unique as revealed by the absence of any shared haplotype with the other two variants. Diversity indices depicted overall high mtDNA diversity for the morphological variants. Analysis of molecular variance revealed distinct population structure in the three studied variants. Based on haplotype diversity (H) and genetic distances, highest variation was observed between var. obtusa and the other two variants, while lesser variation was observed between var. acuta and var. globosa. However, highest nucleotide diversity (π) was observed between the var. acuta and the other two variants. Phylogenetic analyses also distinguished a phylogroup of var. obtusa highlighting its uniqueness. Overall, findings of the present molecularbased analysis indicated substantial genetic variation among the studied morphological variants of genus Turbinella and revealed that the morph obtusa was quite distinct from acuta and globosa.