Identification and characterization of Malaysian river catfish, Mystus nemurus (C&V): RAPD and AFLP analysis

This work represents the first application of the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique and the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RA PD) technique in the study of genetic variation within and among Jive geogr aphical populations of M. nemurus. Four AFLP primer combinations and nine R APD primers detected a total of 158 and 42 polymorphic markers, respectivel y. The results of AFLP and RAPD analysis provide similar conclusions as far as the population clustering analysis is concerned. The Sarawak population , which is located on Borneo Island, clustered by itself and was thus isola ted from the rest of the populations located in peninsular Malaysia. Both m arker systems revealed high genetic variability within the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Sarawak populations. Three subgroups each from the Keda h, Perak, and Sarawak populations were detected by AFLP but not by RAPD. Un ique AFLP fingerprints were also observed in some unusual genotypes sampled in Sarawak. This indicates that AFLP may be a more efficient marker system than RAPD for identifying genotypes within populations.