Genetic characterization of introduced Tunisian and French populations of pike-perch (Sander lucioperca) by species-specific microsatellites and mitochondrial haplotypes

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The pike-perch is among the economically most valuable fish species for both commercial and recreational fishermen. This could be seen as the main reason for its introductions into Western Europe (including France) and Tunisia. Knowledge of the genetic structure of the introduced populations is a prerequisite for their successful long-term management. The present study focuses on the genetic characterization of introduced Tunisian and French pike-perch populations using species-specific microsatellite loci and mitochondrial cytochrome b haplotypes in order to better understand their genetic relationships and to try to trace the origin of the Tunisian populations. Lowered levels of genetic diversity have been observed in the two introduced Tunisian populations and a farmed Czech strain compared to a native wild German population. The reduction of microsatellite genetic variability of these three populations was supported by a genetic bottleneck signature. In contrast, the French populations showed high genetic diversity, probably due to multiple introductions and admixture of genetically differing sources. A high genetic differentiation level (significant F ST values) between most pike-perch populations and a high average accuracy of self-assignments of individuals to populations of their origin were observed, probably resulting from genetic drift. The average pairwise relatedness values and results of the structure analysis highlighted a closer relationship between Tunisian and French populations than between Tunisian and German ones. Indeed, the two Tunisian populations clustered together with the French populations on a Neighbour-Joining tree based on D A genetic distances. This was also sustained by the distribution of cytochrome b haplotypes A and B in the studied populations. The present results demonstrate that, despite the genetic differences, the studied populations cluster according to their phylogeographic origin. The Tunisian populations seem to be introduced from a French hatchery where the brood stock had the haplotype B of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene.

Assessing Genetic Variation in Wild and Domesticated Pikeperch Populations: Implications for Conservation and Fish Farming

“…Both populations also showed signs of heterozygosity deficiency (although not statistically significant). The Tunisian population was introduced from Europe, and the most obvious explanation for low genetic diversity could be the consequences of translocation and subsequent founder effects (see also [49]). The studied Czech population is probably suffering from a recent bottleneck, and this should therefore be taken into account for future conservation and management.…”

Genetic consequences of pond production of a pikeperch (Sander luciopercaL.) stock with natural origin: the effects of changed selection pressure and reduced population size

“…The basis of this variance is the genetic diversity of the native populations. The genetic diversity of the species was described in Aral-Lake (Khurshut & Kohlmann, 2009) and the Caspian Sea (Gharibkhani et al, 2009) and in Kazak (Barmintseva et al, 2014), French (Poulet et al, 2009;Louati et al, 2016), German (Eschbach et al, 2014), Fennoscandian (Björklund, Aho & Larsson, 2007;Säisä et al, 2010;Salminen et al, 2012), Russian (Kusishchin et al, 2018) and Hungarian (Kánainé Sipos et al, 2019) populations.…”