Genetically monomorphic brown trout (Salmo trutta L) populations, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA, multilocus and single-locus minisatellite (VNTR) analyses

Citation

Prodohl PA, Walker AF, Hynes RA, Taggart J & Ferguson A (1997) Genetically monomorphic brown trout (Salmo trutta L) populations, as revealed by mitochondrial DNA, multilocus and single-locus minisatellite (VNTR) analyses. Heredity, 79 (2), pp. 208-213. https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.144

Abstract
Normally, populations of brown trout are genetically highly variable. Two adjacent populations from north-west Scotland, which had previously been found to be monomorphic for 46 protein-coding loci, were studied by higher resolution techniques. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA, multilocus DNA fingerprints and eight specific minisatellite loci revealed no genetic variation among individuals or genetic differences between the two populations. Continual low effective population sizes or severe repeated bottlenecks, as a result of low or variable recruitment, probably explain the atypical absence of genetic variation in these trout populations. Growth data do not provide any evidence of a reduction in fitness in trout from these populations.

Keywords
brown trout; inbreeding depression; minisatellite DNA; mitochondrial DNA; monomorphism

Journal
Heredity: Volume 79, Issue 2