Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Identification Of The Subspecies Of Oreochromis Niloticus (Pisces: Cichlidae) Using Restriction Endonuclease Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna, Seifu Seyoum, Irv Kornfield

Marine Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was used to characterize differentiation among the seven described subspecies of Oreochromis niloticus from East Africa and Egypt. Mitochondrial DNAs of 14 populations were examined with 42 restriction endonucleases. Two subspecies of Oreochromis spilurus were also examined. Approximately 8% of the mitochondrial genome of O. niloticus (17 070 ± 40 base pairs) was assayed; 29 (70%) of the 42 restriction enzymes that were examined displayed restriction phenotypes that varied among the samples analyzed. Several endonucleases produced restriction phenotypes which were diagnostic for the described subspecies of O. niloticus, though a few samples did …