Genetic analysis of four European huchen (Hucho hucho Linnaeus, 1758) broodstocks from Poland, Germany, Slovakia, and Ukraine: implication for conservation

Abstract

Four broodstocks of European huchen (Hucho hucho) from: Poland, Germany, Slovakia, and Ukraine were investigated using ten microsatellite DNA loci. Microsatellite DNA analysis was successfully applied for the first time in the Polish broodstock of this fish species. The genetic variation and genetic distance between these broodstocks were evaluated. In addition, we examined the potential effects of a genetic bottleneck on the genetic variation of the broodstocks. The European huchen broodstocks exhibited moderate genetic diversity (PIC = 0.405–0.496 and I = 0.831–1.047) with the exception of German broodstock which presented higher genetic diversity (PIC = 0.590 and I = 1.254). Observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity across the investigated loci in all broodstocks ranged from 0.434 to 0.686 and from 0.452 to 0.650, respectively. Overall, the studied broodstocks were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE); however, from 8 to 42 % of the loci deviated from HWE in each stock. The Garza-Williamson index (M = 0.146–0.279) and values of the heterozygosity excess revealed a reduction of genetic variation in all studied broodstocks because of the founder or bottleneck effect. The analysis of genetic differentiation (Fst) and Nei’s genetic distance between pairs of broodstocks revealed that Polish and Ukrainian broodstocks of European huchen were characterized by the closest genetic distance. In contrast, the highest genetic divergence parameters (Fst and Nei’s distance) were observed among German, Slovak, and Ukrainian broodstocks.

Application of mtDNA markers for European huchen (Hucho hucho Linnaeus, 1758) management in Poland

“…According to the current results, the overall genetic differentiation (0.1353) between German and the rest of examined broodstocks was moderate (Balloux and Lugon-Moulin 2002). The presented data evidences that despite the low overall levels of mtDNA haplotype and nucleotide diversity, a substantial genetic differentiation between the tested broodstocks of European huchen is observed and is similar with genetic data previously reported for the microsatellite DNA analysis (Kucinski et al 2015).…”

“…Similarly, low values of these indices have been also reported for other close related species such as taimen (Froufe et al 2003(Froufe et al , 2005Balakirev et al 2013;Liu et al 2015) and Sichuan taimen (Wu 2006). The highest haplotype (h) and nucleotide (π) diversity observed in German broodstock of European huchen is congruent with previously published microsatellite data (Kucinski et al 2015). In the case of huchonine fish species, Froufe et al (2003Froufe et al ( , 2005 hypothesized that their lower mtDNA nucleotide diversity compared to other salmonids may be associated with a slower molecular clock.…”

“…However, the low historical effective population size, founder effect, and more recent human-caused bottlenecks may explain the limited genetic diversity within the studied European huchen broodstocks. In turn, earlier presented genetic data on European huchen broodstocks seem to confirm the occurrence of the bottleneck effect or founder effects in the past (Kucinski et al 2015).…”

“…Crespi and Fulton 2004;Shedko et al 2013) or research focused on the congener taxa, such as taimen (Hucho taimen) (Froufe et al 2005;Maric et al 2014a), lenok (Brachymystax lenok) (Xia et al 2006;Liu et al 2015), Sichuan taimen (Hucho bleekeri) (Wu 2006;Wang et al 2011), and Japanese huchen (Hucho perryi) (Oleinik and Skurikhina 2008). Some previous genetic studies on the phylogeographic structure associated with multiple broodstocks and wild populations of European huchen among major drainages provided fragmentary information about their genetic structure and variability (Geist et al 2009;Weiss et al 2011;Maric et al 2014b;Kucinski et al 2015). It should be emphasized that one of the most important factors determining the efficiency of conservation management of endangered fish species is the origin and quality of stocking material.…”

Genetic Variation in the ND1 Gene and D-loop in Protected and Commercially Exploited European Cisco (Coregonus albula L.) Populations

“…The study is in line with current European trends in research on endangered populations (BRZUZAN 2000;JACOBSEN et al 2012;KUCINSKI et al 2015). The analysis provided information on the genetic variability of the European cisco populations and on interpopulation relatedness, and may be a basis for reintroduction policy.…”