Microsatellites reveal weak genetic differentiation between Rutilus frisii kutum (Kamenskii, 1901) populations south of the Caspian Sea

Abstract

Abstract Rutilus frisii kutum (Kamenskii, 1901) is one of the most important bony fish inhabiting the Caspian Sea. The Iranian Fisheries Organization produced up to 200 million fry to restock the Caspian Sea population annually. Loss of genetic stocks and gradual depletion of the gene pool are parameters of great concern for the future of the species. In the present study, we used ten microsatellite markers to estimate the level of genetic diversity and compare the degree of genetic differentiation among kutum populations collected from Gharesou, Tajan and Goharbaran rivers in the south of Caspian Sea. The average number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 12.33, while the average observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.22 to 1.00 and from 0.69 to 0.88, respectively. Through AMOVA, a low level of variation between regions as well as a large percentage of total variation within population was observed. Current knowledge about artificial breeding suggests that offspring transfer between rivers has probably reduced the natural divergence naturally exists between these pools. These results could be useful for the genetic management of kutum populations.