engleski

Application of microsatellite analysis on Astacus astacus and Astacus leptodactylus populations from Croatia – preliminary results

Recently, microsatellite markers have been successfully applied to reveal genetic patterns in populations of different European crayfish species. In this preliminary research, we used four microsatellites primarily aiming to check their possible usefulness in detecting hybrids between noble and narrow-clawed crayfish. Hybrids between those two species have been previously obtained under laboratory conditions, and their occurrence in natural habitats has been occasionally mentioned in the literature. Existence of possible hybrids between noble and narrow-clawed crayfish in natural habitats was approached by morphometric analyses. Results on morphometry were ambiguous, and the existence of hybrids has not been approved with certainty. Application of microsatellites in this research was done on the samples from pure A. leptodactylus and A. astacus populations, from the mixed population, and on the samples of hybrids obtained from an experimental trial. Obtained results are complex, and their comprehensive interpretation would require inclusion of more individuals. Nevertheless, it was proved that microsatellites developed for A. astacus cross-amplify on A. leptodactylus, and that novel microsatellite marker, isolated from A. leptodactylus, gave successful amplification for both species. Analysis of samples from the Mrežnica River (downstream A. leptodactylus population ; upstream A. astacus population), gave insight into the population structure for both species ; A. leptodactylus shows higher degree of heterozygosity than A. astacus, what could be a consequence of bottleneck in A. astacus population caused by crayfish plague in the past. In order to get some final conclusion on the hybrids existence, more markers, as well as more populations, with a higher number of samples should be included.

noble crayfish; narrow-clawed crayfish; microsatellites; cross-amplification

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