Abstract: Objective To explore the degree of genetic diversity among populations of Oncomelania hupensis. Methods AFLP method was used to amplify the genomic DNA of thirteen snail populations from nine provinces (i.e. Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu) and the genetic diversities among snail populations were analyzed. Results The number of AFLP fragments amplified ranged from 403 to 472 for thirteen Oncomelania populations. Among the thirteen snail populations, the genetic diversity within the population from Xingzi County, Jiangxi Province, was most significant, and the percentage of polymorphic loci, Nei’s genetic diversity and Shannon’s information index were 93.22%, 0.345 and 0.510 respectively, while these indices for the snail population from Yizhou City, Guangxi Region, were the lowest, 55.80%, 0.191 and 0.287 respectively. The similarity between the in-group-individuals from Yizhou City, Guangxi Region, was most significant, and the average coefficient of similarity was 0.904, and that from Dantu County, Jiangsu Province, was the lowest (0.748). The genetic diversities among snail populations were significantly different for the thirteen snail populations ( P<0.01). Conclusion There is a certain genetic variation among Oncomelania snail populations from the mainland of China, and this variation is significantly different among snail populations from different areas.

Key words: Oncomelania hupensis, AFLP, Genetic diversity