Molecular genetic diversity analysis of the Nigerian laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) and related species using selected mitochondrial genes

Nigerian laughing doves (Streptopelia senegalensis) are small birds with long tail and living in bushes of the Sub-Saharan regions of African continent, the middle East and Asia, especially India. They are used for food, medicinal and religious purposes in Nigeria. Despite their usage, there is a lack of information on the genetic diversity of laughing doves in Nigeria. This study investigates taxonomic order and diversity of Nigerian laughing doves based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome B (CYTB). The results showed 20 haplotypes within the 28 Nigerian coupled with Global Streptopelia genus using concatenated sequences. The Nigerian laughing dove constitute 16 distinct haplotypes. The haplotype diversity was 0.743 ± 0.070, and nucleotide diversity 0.154 ± 0.101 within Nigerian population using COI sequences. Phylogenetic tree showed that Nigerian laughing doves were in the same monophyletic clade with other Streptopela orientalis, S. decocto and S. chinensis; and this confirmed that Nigerian laughing doves might have shared descendant. The median-joining network further grouped Nigerian laughing doves into two: the first group consisting of Nigerian populations only, while the second group are with Saudi Arabian and Djiboutian populations. Population expansion was revealed in Nigerian dove individuals. This study revealed 16 unique haplotypes among Nigerian laughing dove population using concatenated sequences. Interestingly, CYTB showed clustering in African laughing doves (For instance, Nigerian individuals shared haplotypes with Sao Tome and Principe, an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, the western equatorial coast of Central Africa). The current data is the first report on genetic diversity of Nigerian laughing dove using mitochondrial COI and CYTB genes.