Genetic structure of populations of Mugil cephalus using RAPD markers

Genetic structure of four populations of Mugil cephalus from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India was studied using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Five selective primers provided distinct and consistent RAPD profiles in all the four populations. The bands in the range 400 to 1200 bp were scored for consistent results. The RAPD profiles generated by all the five primers revealed varying degrees of polymorphism, ranging from 50.76 (primer E03) to 72.41% (primer E05). Nei’s genetic diversity (h) among the four populations varied from 0.3717 ± 0.1460 (Gujarat population) to 0.5316 ± 0.1720 (Maharashtra population). Nie’s highest genetic distance (0.8556) was observed between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat populations.Key words: Mugil cephalus, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), genetic structure, India