Genetic diversity of Ganges River sprat, Corica soborna, from Kaptai Lake and Kirtankhola River in Bangladesh

Abstract

Ganges River sprat, Corica soborna Hamilton, is an indigenous fish species and an excellent source of animal
protein with medicinal values in Bangladesh. Samples from two populations of this fish species were collected from Kaptai
Lake and Kirtankhola River in Bangladesh to elucidate their genetic diversity based on Random Amplified Polymorphic
DNA (RAPD) analysis. Ten primers were selected for this analysis: OPA-04; OPAL-04; OPA-03; OPF-01; OPG-05;
OPG-04; OPA-09; OPAK-04; OPAW-09; OPA-02. A total of sixty-eight bands were found of which thirty-two were
polymorphic and indicated a moderate level as 51.07% polymorphisms between these two fish populations. The size
of the bands ranged between 200 to 1300 bp in their analysis. Based on the specific primer banding patterns, a maximum
polymorphism of 100% was found for primer OPF-01; however, the lowest of 14.29% polymorphism was found for
primer OPG-04 for these two populations. The genetic distance and genetic identity of 0.8210 and 0.4400,
respectively, also indicated that these two populations were moderately distant from each other. A dendrogram
based on Nei’s (1972) genetic distance was constructed using the Unweighted Pair Group Method of Arithmetic Means
(UPGMA), and it segregated these two populations into one major cluster C1. Therefore, the present study revealed that
these two Ganges River sprat populations are moderately genetically diversified. An effective management program and
policy should be undertaken to conserve and manage these indigenous fish species in Bangladesh.