Population Structure of Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897) in the southern part of Caspian Sea

Document Type : Articles

Authors

• M.R. Khoshkholgh
• S. Nazari
• M. Pourkazemi

10.22067/ijab.v9i1.33304

Abstract

We estimated the genetic diversity and population structure of Persian Sturgeon across
six regions of Caspian Sea along the coast of Iran using eight DNA microsatellite loci.
Full genotypes were obtained for 195 individuals of Persian Sturgeon. Significant
differences were detected between A. persicus specimens collected from Sefidrud River
(P≤0.0001) and those collected from the southern fishery zones. According to the
neighbor-joining tree A. persicus specimens collected from the Sefidrud River nested in
one cluster and all other specimens placed in the second cluster. Mean diversity was
greatest in the Sefidrud River (14 alleles per locus) collections, and lowest in the
Kiashahr-Chaboksar (Zone 2) (8 alleles per locus). The average observed and expected
heterozygosity indicated a high level of genetic variability in where regions. Pairwise FST
values revealed genetic differentiation among the populations. Based on the results it
might be concluded that two independent populations of A. persicus exist in the south
coast of Caspian Sea which include the Sefidrud River population and zone 3 in which
this calls for additional investigations on the genetic structure. These results and
significant FST of genotypic differences between these pairs of collections support the
existence of genetic structuring in this species along the south coast of Caspian Sea.

Keywords

• en

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