Microsatellites in grayling (Thymallus thymallus): comparison of two geographically remote populations from the Danubian and Adriatic river basin in Slovenia

• Published in: Molecular ecology 1999-10, Vol.8 (10), p.1756-1758
• Main Authors: SuSˇnik, S., Snoj, A., DovCˇ, P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; DNA Primers; Fresh Water; Freshwater; Geography; grayling; Microsatellite Repeats; microsatellites; polymorphism; Polymorphism, Genetic; Salmonidae - classification; Salmonidae - genetics; Slovenia; Thymallus; Thymallus thymallus
• ISSN: 0962-1083; 1365-294X
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1999.00723-2.x

There are two geographically separate populations of grayling (Thymallus thymallus) in Slovenia inhabiting the Danubian drainage (Danubian type) and the Soca river system (Adriatic type). The two populations have their own phenotypic characteristics which make them morphologically different (Voljc & Ocvirk 1982). No detailed analysis has been performed to evaluate these differences at the molecular level, except for one microsatellite locus (Snoj et al. 1999). Intensive stocking of the Soca drainage with Danubian grayling during the last few years could cause an uncontrolled mixing of both populations and potentially threaten the existence of Adriatic grayling in Slovenia. To help differentiate these populations for conservation purposes and to assess the diversity between populations, we compared both types of grayling for genetic polymorphisms. To identify genetic polymorphisms between the Adriatic and Danubian grayling, we examined several microsatellite loci. DNA was extracted from erythrocytes (Medrano et al. 1990) and a genomic library was constructed as described by Rassmann et al. (1991).