Identification of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) using Electrophoretic Techniques

Abstract

ABSTRACTIsoelectric focusing (IEF), sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE), and two‐dimensional (2‐D) gel electrophoresis were employed to produce protein profiles for species identification of red snapper and 11 other fish species. Comparing the distinctive patterns of water‐soluble sarcoplasmic proteins for each species on IEF and SDS gels, red snapper could be identified. IEF gels of ampholyte mixture of 20% pH 3–10 and 80% pH 4–6.5 resolved better than gels with ampholyte ranging from pH 3–10, 4–6.5, 6–8, or 5–6 for species identification. The 10 and 12.5% SDS‐PAGE gels produced more distinctive protein profiles for identification than 7.5 and 15% gels. Thus, these techniques could be applied to identify fish species.