Molecular assessment and transcriptome profiling of wild fish populations of Oryzias mekongensis and O. songkhramensis (Adrianichthyidae: Beloniformes) from Thailand

Abstract

Among the fish of the genus Oryzias, two species are frequently used as model animals in biological research. In Thailand, Oryzias mekongensis is usually found in natural freshwater near the Mekong Basin in the northeast region, while O. songkhramensis inhabits the Songkhram Basin. For differential morphological identification, the coloured bands on the dorsal and ventral margins of the caudal fin are used to distinguish O. mekongensis from O. songkhramensis. However, these characteristics are insufficient to justify species differentiation, and little molecular evidence is available to supplement them. This study aimed to investigate the molecular population and transcriptome profiles of adult O. mekongensis and O. songkhramensis. In the molecular tree based on cytochrome b sequences, O. mekongensis exhibited four clades that were clearly distinguished from O. songkhramensis. Clade 1 of the O. mekongensis population was close to the Mekong River and lived in the eastern portion of the upper northeast region. Clade 2 was far from the Mekong River and inhabited the middle region of the Songkhram River. Clade 3 was positioned to the west of the Songkhram River, and clade 4 was to the south of the Songkhram River Basin. After RNA sequencing using an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform, the gene category annotations hardly differentiated the species and were discussed in the text. Based on the present findings, population dispersal of these Oryzias species might be associated with geographic variations of the upper northeast region. Molecular genetics and transcriptome profiling might advance our understanding of the evolution of teleost fish.

Mitochondrial variation of wild populations of two brackish ricefish (Teleostei: Beloniformes) in Thailand

“…In Thailand, Thai ricefish populations have been mainly separated into two groups based on the COI gene and displacement (D) loops (Ngamniyom et al, 2020). Recently, Ngamniyom (2020) reported that the population diversity of O. mekongensis and O. songkhramensis associated with river positions in northeastern Thailand. The Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea of Thailand are physical barriers separated by the Thai-Malaysian Peninsula (Mahidol et al, 2007;Phinchongsakuldit et al, 2013;Sheldon et al, 2015;Lange et al, 2019), where the geographical pattern includes long mountain and hill ranges that were also taken into the account (Gupta, 2005;Wolf et al, 2020).…”