Genetic architecture of trout from Albania as revealed by mtDNA control region variation.

Saša Marić,Simona Sušnik,Ales Snoj,Spase Shumka,Alain J Crivelli,Patrick Berrebi

doi:10.1186/1297-9686-41-22

Abstract

To determine the genetic architecture of trout in Albania, 87 individuals were collected from 19 riverine and lacustrine sites in Albania, FYROM and Greece. All individuals were analyzed for sequence variation in the mtDNA control region. Among fourteen haplotypes detected, four previously unpublished haplotypes, bearing a close relationship to haplotypes of the Adriatic and marmoratus lineages of Salmo trutta, were revealed. Ten previously described haplotypes, characteristic of S. ohridanus, S. letnica and the Adriatic and Mediterranean lineages of S. trutta, were also detected. Haplotypes detected in this study were placed in a well supported branch of S. ohridanus, and a cluster of Mediterranean – Adriatic – marmoratus haplotypes, which were further delimited into three subdivisions of Mediterranean, marmoratus, and a previously non-described formation of four Adriatic haplotypes (Balkan cluster). Haplotypes of the Balkan cluster and the other Adriatic haplotypes, do not represent a contiguous haplotype lineage and appear not to be closely related, indicating independent arrivals into the Adriatic drainage and suggesting successive colonization events. Despite the presence of marmoratus haplotypes in Albania, no marbled phenotype was found, confirming previously reported findings that there is no association between this phenotype and marmoratus haplotypes.

Highlights

Major European peninsulas are known to have played a central role in the survival of animal and plants during ice-age maxima and have received a high degree of attention in terms of conservation of endemic taxa [1,2]
In Lake Ohrid, five haplotypes, all previously described in Sušnik et al [38], were found, four of which were detected in S. ohridanus (Haplo 1, 4, 5 and 6) and one in S. letnica (Haplo 12)
Salmo peristericus from the FYROM part of the Prespa basin were fixed for haplotype ADcs1; this haplotype was found in the River Valbona system in Albania (River Drin basin)

Summary

Introduction

Major European peninsulas are known to have played a central role in the survival of animal and plants during ice-age maxima and have received a high degree of attention in terms of conservation of endemic taxa [1,2]. Compared with the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, the biodiversity and rich level of phenotypic variability present in the Balkan Peninsula have only recently been investigated by molecular techniques As one of the 17 biodiversity hotspots of the world [6], this peninsula harbours numerous endemic taxa [4], including members of the genus Salmo (subsequently referred to as Balkan trout), which are especially diverse in this region. [7,8]) and found high levels of endemism among Balkan trout. Genetics Selection Evolution 2009, 41:22 http://www.gsejournal.org/content/41/1/22 of recent studies have focused on revisiting Balkan trout taxonomy, population structure and demographic history [9,10,11,12,13,14]. Much remains to be done, as the status of several nominal species and populations of Balkan trout remains unresolved, mainly as a result of the region's geographical, political and cultural isolation [15]

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Conclusion