BIOCHEMICAL GENETIC CHARACTERISTIC OF THE FARMED ATLANTIC SALMON (Salmo salar) STOCK DEVELOPED IN POLAND FOR THE RESTORATION PURPOSES

Miroslaw Luczynski; Ryszard Bartel; Andrzej Marczyński

Miroslaw Luczynski
Ryszard Bartel
Andrzej Marczyński

Keywords: ALLOZYMES, ELECTROPHORESIS, GENETIC VARIATION, HETEROZYGOSITY, POLYMORPHISM, Salmo salar

Abstract

Farmed stock of Atlantic salmon has been developed in Poland for the restoration purposes. Allozyme electrophoretic study has been carried out in order to evaluate the gene pool of the stock. Variation of genes coding for 13 enzymatic systems in the sample of 90 fish has been studied using horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. Among the 38 genetic loci scored, only four loci were polymorphic: sAAT-3^*, IDDH-2^*, sIDHP-4^*, and mMEP-2^*. Percentage of polymorphic loci was P=10.5, mean number of alleles per locus was 1.1, and average observed heterozygosity was H=0.037. As other studies on Atlantic salmon report more numerous polymorphic loci, it is possible that the hatchery operations caused limited erosions of genetic variability in the reared stock. This stresses the importance of using adequate numbers of parental fish in establishing the hatchery rearing operations, in order to minimize the founder effects and genetic drift.