Analysis of genetic variation in the Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis: estimating the contribution of artificially produced larvae in a wild population

Abstract

Twenty-five sets of microsatellite primers developed from lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) and shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) genomic DNA were tested on Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis. Ten sets of primers successfully produced resolvable amplicons, and four of these sets (Afu-39, Afu-54, Afu-68, and Spl-168) were used to analyze genetic variation in mature adults, juveniles, and a single family of Chinese sturgeon from the Yangtze River. Offspring from the single family were stocked prior to the juvenile sample being taken. Results from genotyping parents and offspring indicated that all four loci appear to be tetrasomic and all alleles appear to segregate among the offspring in a 1: 1 (presence: absence) ratio. Neighbor-joining based on band-sharing in coupling with parentage analysis revealed that hatchery propagated individ-uals may comprise 5–10 % of the juvenile population from a stocking of 30 000–60 000 larvae.