Microsatellite diversity and population genetic structure of Rutilus frisii kutum in Mazandaran coasts

Rutilus frisii kutum is one of the commercially valuable species that has a great demand due to its taste in the southern parts of Caspian Sea. Investigation shows that natural reproduction of this species has been decreased during recent years. To restock this species, about 200 million fry are produced by artificial breeding and released into the sea annually. In the current study, ten microsatellite loci were used to investigate the genetic variation of Rutilus frisii kutum in Tajan and Tonekabon regions of Mazandaran province. Despite the high value of observed heterozygosity, the allelic diversity was low in the populations and the signs of genetic bottleneck were observed in the populations, due to the decrease of population effective size. The results showed no obvious genetic differentiation among the regions by Fst, Rst and analysis of molecular variance, and only 1% of observed variation is among the populations. A relatively high level of gene flow was found between populations. Genetic variation of two regions was not statistically different. These results could be useful for the genetic management of kutum populations and may serve as a baseline in monitoring future genetic change in their genetic diversity.