Genetic structure of golden mullet (Liza aurata) in Gomishan and Anzali wetlands using microsatellite molecular technique

Abstract

Genetic structure of golden mullet, Liza aurata, from the Gomishan and Anzali wetlands was investigated using six microsatellite primer sets (Muce55, Muce37, Muso10, Muco16, Muso19, and Muso22). In total 60 samples of adult golden mullet were collected from these regions. All primer sets were used as polymorphic loci to analyze the genetic variation. Analyses revealed that average of alleles (Na) per locus was 5.3 (range 3 to 9 alleles) samples of Gomishan wetland 5.1 and Anzali wetland 5.5 respectively. All sampled regions contained private alleles. The average estimates of inbreeding coefficients (Fis and Fit) values of 6 microsatellites were positive. The average observed and expected heterozygosity was 0.153 and 0.721 in Gomishan wetland and 0.328 and 0.747 in Anzali wetland respectively. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were in all cases (P<0.001). F-statistics (Fst) and gene flow (Nm) estimates in allele frequencies were 0.113 and 1.97 respectively. Rst and Fst estimates in AMOVA indicated significant genetic differentiation among regions (P<0.01). Genetic distance indicated that the genetic difference among the studied populations is pronounced.