Genetic Distances of Rainbow Trout and Masu Salmon as Determined by PCR-Based Analysis

This study used a PCR-based genetic analysis platform to create a hierarchical polar dendrogram of Euclidean genetic distances for two salmonid species, Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout, RT) and Oncorhynchus masou (masu salmon, MS). The species were distantly related to other fish species based on PCR results from using the designed oligonucleotide primer series. Five oligonucleotide primers were used to generate 330 and 234 scorable fragments in the RT and MS populations, respectively. The DNA fragments ranged in size from approximately 50 bp to more than 2,000 bp. The bandsharing (BS) results showed that the RT population had a higher average BS value (0.852) than that for the MS population (0.704). The genetic distance between individuals supported the presence of adjacent affiliation in cluster I (RT 01–RT 11). The observation of a significant genetic distance between the two Oncorhynchus species verifies that this PCR-based technique can be a useful approach for individual- and population-based biological DNA investigations. The results of this type of investigation can be useful for species safekeeping and the maintenance of salmonid populations in the mountain streams of Korea.