Majallah-i ̒Ilmī-i Shīlāt-i Īrān (Jan 2008)
INVESTIGATION ON GENETIC STRUCTURE OF COBIA (RACHYCENTRON CANADUM) USING MICROSATELLITE MARKERS
Abstract
The genetic diversity of Cobia, Rachycentron canadum populations in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea were assessed using mietosatellite technique. We removed about 3-5g of pectoral and dorsal fin tissue from 184 samples in winter 2006 and spring 2007, and stored it in pure ethylic alcohol (96%). Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were conducted on the target DNA using 10 paired microsatellite primers. The dendrogram was constructed and drawn using MEGA software package version 4. Based on the analysis of molecular variance, the highest Fst(0.063) was observed when comparing specimens from Dayer Port and Pozm zones. Significant differences (P<0.01) were not observed between Rst recorded for the specimens studied in the same region but were observed between Rst recorded for different regions. The dendrogram of genetic distance showed two major clusters: the Bushehr and Dayer populations were in one cluster, and the remaining four populations in the other. The second cluster was further separated into two sub-clusters: the Lengehand Bandar Abbas populations composed one cluster and the Pozm and the Beris populations were in the other cluster. The present study showed that at least three different populations of R. canadum are living in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. The populations include Bushehr, Bandar Abbas and Chabahar populations.
