Microsatellite polymorphism in natural populations of threatened Caspian roach in Golestan coasts

To investigate the population structure of Caspian roach, one of the economically important and threatened species of Caspian Sea, 58 samples were collected from Gorgan river and Gorgan bay and then they were studied using 10 microsatellite loci. All of the 10 loci were polymorphic and showed polymorphism information content from 0.72 to 0.93. Results indicated that allelic (allele number: 10.3) and gene (heterozygosity: 0.67) diversity of the regions are at an acceptable level. 10 cases of 20 investigated tests (10 loci × 2 populations) showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, mainly due to the heterozygosity deficiency. UPGMA cluster analysis, based on Nei genetic distance, didn’t show distinct departure among populations. Also, analysis of molecular variance showed high diversity (98%) within the populations.