C. Daguin et P. Borsa, Genetic characterisation of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lmk. in North West Africa using nuclear DNA markers, J EXP MAR B, 235(1), 1999, pp. 55-65
Citations number
29
Categorie Soggetti
Aquatic Sciences
Journal title
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
The genetic relationships among Mytilus galloprovincialis populations over
their range in the northeastern Atlantic and the western Mediterranean were
investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified nuclear DNA m
arkers. We used long-range polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for character
ising an intron-length polymorphism at the actin gene locus mac-1 in Mytilu
s. Sharp resolution was obtained with this technique, which revealed a high
level of size polymorphism. It also allowed to discriminate between M. gal
loprovincialis and M. edulis. A sample of the Padstow mussel - reported to
be M. galloprovincialis according to allozyme and morphological data - exhi
bited allele frequencies that were rather intermediate between M. galloprov
incialis and M. edulis. We compared Mytilus samples from the northwestern A
frican coasts (Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania) to reference M. edu
lis and M. galloprovincialis samples, and to the Padstow mussel. The northw
estern African Mytilus were M. galloprovincialis as formerly suggested on t
he basis of morphology and geographic location. Significant differentiation
was observed between M. galloprovincialis from northwestern Africa and the
reference M. galloprovincialis sample from the Mediterranean Sea, but not
with M. galloprovincialis from a northeastern Atlantic population, a result
that is consistent with previous allozyme- and mitochondrial DNA-based rep
orts of an abrupt genetic change between northeastern Atlantic/Alboran Sea
and western Mediterranean M. galloprovincialis populations. Slight heterozy
gote deficiencies were possibly present within each sample as usually repor
ted in bivalve populations. Additional PCRs using a second pair of primers
indicated that this could hardly be explained by the occurrence of 'null' a
lleles that would have resulted from mis-priming during DNA amplification.
(C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.