Single Locus Minisatellite DNA Variation in European Populations of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar L.)

Abstract

The genetic variability of four wild populations (Ireland, Scotland, and Spain) and a farmed strain (Norwegian Mowi origin) of Atlantic salmon (Salmo solar) was examined at four minisatellite DNA loci. Several year classes were included for three of the groups in order to assess temporal stability. All samples proved to be highly polymorphic with five, seven, eight, and twelve alleles present at the four loci overall. Mean heterozygosity values ranged from 0.42–0.65 with the farmed strain exhibiting the lowest value. Gene diversity analysis indicated that 85.4 % of the total gene diversity was attributable to among individual variation within a sample, 0.9 % among year classes, and 13.7 % attributable to among group variation. These single locus minisatellite DNA probes proved to be highly informative and were successfully employed to determine the extent of genetic variation within and among the Atlantic salmon populations studied.