Genetic differentiation among common and selected hatchery populations of flounder: Evidence from RAPD markers

Randomly amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed in order to evaluate one common population and two selected hatchery populations of flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. A total of 90 individuals belonging to three populations were screened using 12 different RAPD primers. A total of 71 loci were produced in the three studied populations, and 43.5%, 42.4% and 42.2% of these loci were polymorphic over all the genotypes tested in common, susceptible and resistant populations, respectively. The number of loci detected by single primers ranged from four to eight. The average heterozygosites of common, susceptible and resistant populations were 0.112, 0.103 and 0.111, respectively. Compared with the common population, the two selected hatchery populations, susceptible and resistant, showed some genetic differences including a smaller number of loci, a smaller number of polymorphic loci, a smaller number of genotypes and a smaller Shannon index. The present study confirmed that it is important to detect the genetic variability of the selected hatchery population for the conservation of natural flounder resources.