THE USE OF RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA MARKERS IN GENETIC-STUDIES OF THE SEA-SCALLOP PLACOPECTEN-MAGELLANICUS (GMELIN, 1791)

This study represents the first published application of the random am plified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique to bivalve DNA. A total of 22 2, 10 base (10 mer) primers were screened against one DNA sample from the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, under predetermined optimal reaction conditions. One hundred thirty RAPD primers were found to be positive (59%). When 40 of these positive primers were randomly selec ted and used to compare RAPD profiles among 24 individuals collected f rom different scallop beds, at least 15 primers revealed clear polymor phisms. Inheritance of RAPD alleles was examined by the analysis of ba nding patterns from a pair-mated family, in which almost all alleles s egregated in a Mendelian fashion. Although none of the RAPD markers wa s unique to a single population in our small samples, the frequencies of polymorphic bands at different loci varied between populations. Thu s, genetic similarity based on allele frequencies can be estimated and used as an additional tool for understanding the genetic structure of sea scallop populations.