Mitochondrial DNA diversity in Francolinus pondicerianus interpositus (grey francolin, Galliformes) from Pakistan

Francolinus pondicerianus interpositus (grey francolin, Galliformes) is the only francolin present in the Suleiman Range (central Pakistan), one of the poorest and least developed areas in Pakistan. As a game bird, the francolin is an important income source for the region, but no demographic data are available. Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the polymorphism pattern of the Control Region gene (mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA), in order to obtain some initial information about genetic diversity, possible structure and demographic dynamics in this population. In 29 individuals captured in four sampling areas in the western and the eastern Suleiman Range, we detected nine polymorphic sites in a 511 bp fragment of the mtDNA Control Region gene, resulting in seven haplotypes. Haplotype (h = 0.818 ± 0.032) and nucleotide diversity (π % = 0.308 ± 0.210) values suggested a large population size and a low divergence among the haplotypes. AMOVA (Φ(ST) = 0.005; P = 0.352) did not detect any significant differences among the western and eastern populations; therefore, specimens of both sampled areas could be considered as drawn from a single population. The observed distribution of pairwise mismatches was bimodal, revealing significant departure from a growing-decreasing population model (P = 0.030); these results would point to a demographic equilibrium. Tribal control of hunting might provide an explanation for this situation, but future overhunting would threaten the survival of this population.