MOLECULAR SEQUENCES OF 2 MINISATELLITES IN BLACKLIP ABALONE, HALIOTIS-RUBRA

In the cloning and sequencing of growth-promoting genes of the blackli p abalone, Haliotis rubra (Leach, 1814), two DNA variable number of ta ndem repeats (VNTRs) were identified in abalone cDNA libraries. One co ntained a 33 bp repeat unit (5'-CCCAAGGTCCCCAAGGTCAGGGAGGCGAAGGCT3') l ocated in the 3' untranslated region of a putative growth hormone (GH) gene, and the repeat was designated as GHR. The other contained an 18 bp repeat unit (5'-ACCCGGCGCTTATTAGAG-3') located in the 3' untransla ted region of a putative molluscan insulin-related peptides (MIP) gene , and was designated as MIPR. Primers flanking the two VNTR repeat reg ions were derived from sequence information. One hundred blacklip abal ones were collected along the Victorian coastline and used in a prelim inary population study. The range of GHR alleles containing the 33 bp basic unit repeat motif included 7 to 20 repeats, with allele GHR 8 no t being identified. The most frequent alleles contained GHR 16 and 17 repeats (56.0% and 16.5%, respectively). Four types of alleles were id entified in MIPR, viz 4, 5, 6 and 7 repeats. The alleles containing 6 and 5 repeats were the most frequent (50.0% and 41.5%, respectively). Overall, the results indicate that these two DNA minisatellites have u se in abalone studies, including paternity resting, triploid testing, population genetic structure, and gene flow.