The Use of Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in Conservation Genetics

Abstract

Abstract A primary goal of conservation genetics is to estimate the level and distribution of genetic variation in endangered species. Genetic data are often critical to understanding the structure, evolutionary relationships, demographics, and taxonomy of populations, races, and species; thus, they often play a significant role in the formulation of appropriate management strategies directed toward the conservation of taxa (Beardmore, 1983; Allendorf and Leary, 1986; Lacy, 1988). Currently, the most popular and cost-effective means by which conservation geneticists infer variation at the molecular level is isozyme electrophoresis. Isozymes possess several positive attributes for use in genetic analysis: only small amounts of tissue are required, alleles exhibit simple Mendelian inheritance and codominant expression in most cases, and comparisons of homologous loci across populations and related species are straightforward (Schaal et al., 1991). Nevertheless, as applied to studies of genetic variation, isozymes have well-known limitations, the most serious of which are highly biased genomic sampling (only genes encoding soluble enzymes are surveyed) and the small number of loci (maximally about 40) available for study.