Genetic structure of Mosul bleak (Alburnus mossulensis Heckel, 1843) using microsatellite marker in Tigris basin

Genetic structure of Mosul bleak (Alburnus mossulensis Heckel، 1843) of Tigris basin was investigated using 4 microsatellite loci (BL1-2b، BL1-98، CypG24 and Rser10) on fish collected from different populations of rivers including Konjancham، Kashgan، Doroud، Dopolan and Davoud Arab. Thirty specimens from each river with the exception of 25 specimens from Davoud Arab were collected. PCR amplification showed 43 alleles in total، averaging 10. 75 alleles per locus. Allele sizes at CypG24، BL1-2b، BL1-98 and Rser10 loci were in the range of 138-215، 141-180، 272-300، 176-240 bps، respectively. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0. 79 in Davoud Arab river to 0. 84 in Konjancham and Kashgan rivers with an average of 0. 825. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0. 69 in Konjancham river to 0. 81 in Kashgan river with an average of 0. 75. Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were found to be at BL1-98، BL1-2b and CypG24 loci in all populations and Rser10 in Davoud Arab population (P<0001). The overall FST mean values between populations and basins were 0. 02 and 0. 0071، respectively. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the percent of variance among and within populations were 17. 6 and 82. 4، respectively. The genetic similarity and distance indices were in the range of 0. 696-0. 894 and 0. 111-0. 34، respectively. Little but meaningfully significant genetic differentiation was observed among different stations (P<005). For deeper understanding of population structure of Mosul bleak، studying of more microsatellite markers is recommended.