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MICROSATELLITE DNA MARKERS DEVELOPED FOR THE RAINBOW DARTER, ETHEOSTOMA CAERULEUM (PERCIDAE), AND THEIR POTENTIAL UTILITY FOR OTHER DARTER SPECIES
Citation:
TONNIS, B. MICROSATELLITE DNA MARKERS DEVELOPED FOR THE RAINBOW DARTER, ETHEOSTOMA CAERULEUM (PERCIDAE), AND THEIR POTENTIAL UTILITY FOR OTHER DARTER SPECIES. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY NOTES. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, 6:230-232, (2006).
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this task is to develop molecular indicators to evaluate the integrity and sustainability of aquatic fish, invertebrate, and plant communities (GPRA goal 4.5.2). Specifically, this subtask aims to evaluate methods for the measurement of:
fish and invertebrate community composition, especially for morphologically indistinct (cryptic) species
population genetic structure of aquatic indicator species and its relationship to landscape determinants of population structure (to aid in defining natural assessment units and to allow correlation of population substructure with regional stressor coverages)
genetic diversity within populations of aquatic indicator species, as an indicator of vulnerability to further exposure and as an indicator of cumulative exposure
patterns of temporal change in genetic diversity of aquatic indicator species, as a monitoring tool for establishing long-term population trends.
Description:
The rainbow darter Etheostoma caeruleum is a small fish in the perch family (Percidae) that is adapted to fast-flowing streams in eastern North America. It is relatively sensitive to habitat degradation and is widely used as a sentinel of stream condition. Information from molecular markers would provide a complementary tool for assessing the integrity of stream ecosystems. Sixteen highly polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite markers were thus identified. Between four and sixteen loci were found to be useful in five congeneric species. These markers will be useful for characterizing population genetic structure and diversity of rainbow darters and related fishes.