Analysis of DNA from old scale samples: technical aspects, applications and perspectives for conservation

Collections of old scales from salmonid fishes can be found in many fisheri es institutions in Europe and North America. Such scales have been shown to be useful as a source of DNA, which can be used for analysis of microsatel lites. We here describe the technical procedures in relation to extraction and PCR amplification of DNA from old scales. Further, we describe case sto ries of the application of old scale DNA analysis for conservation genetics with regard to: 1) Identification of native populations, 2) assessment of loss of genetic variation, 3) estimation of effective population size, 4) e valuation of anthropogenic effects on the genetic population structure/mode of migration and 5) the temporal stability of the genetic population struc ture. Finally, we describe the perspectives for Future genetic studies usin g old scale DNA. In particular, we evaluate other types of genetic markers such as mtDNA and loci subjected to selection, in association with old scal e DNA, as tools for prioritising populations for conservation.