Applications of DNA barcoding to fish landings: authentication and diversity assessment.
DNA barcoding methodologies are being increasingly applied not only for scientific purposes but also for diverse real-life uses. Fisheries assessment is a potential niche for DNA barcoding, which serves for species authentication and may also be used for estimating within-population genetic diversity of exploited fish. Analysis of single-sequence barcodes has been proposed as a shortcut for measuring diversity in addition to the original purpose of species identification. Here we explore the relative utility of different mitochondrial sequences (12S rDNA, COI, cyt b, and D-Loop) for application as barcodes in fisheries sciences, using as case studies two marine and two freshwater catches of contrasting diversity levels. Ambiguous catch identification from COI and cyt b was observed. In some cases this could be attributed to duplicated names in databases, but in others it could be due to mitochondrial introgression between closely related species that may obscure species assignation from mtDNA. This last problem could be solved using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. We suggest to simultaneously analyze one conserved and one more polymorphic gene to identify species and assess diversity in fish catches.
University of Oviedo, Department of Functional Biology. C/ Julian Claveria s/n. 33006-Oviedo, Spain.
Alba
A
Ardura
USR 3278 CNRS - EPHE. Centre de Recherche Insulaire et Observatoire de l'Environnement (CRIOBE) BP 1013 - 98 729, Papetoai, Moorea, Polynésie française ; Centre de Biologie et d'Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne, Université de Perpignan, 52 Av. Paul Alduy - 66860 Perpignan cedex, France.
Serge
S
Planes
University of Oviedo, Department of Functional Biology. C/ Julian Claveria s/n. 33006-Oviedo, Spain.
Eva
E
Garcia-Vazquez
Species identification; freshwater fisheries; genetic diversity; marine fisheries; mitochondrial DNA markers