Microsatellite gene diversity analysis in anadromous arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus, from Labrador, Canada

Abstract

We analysed six loci among 257 Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) representing seven locations in Labrador and Newfoundland to provide a first assessment of microsatellites gene diversity in anadromous char and to determine the geographic scale of population structuring within the species. The number of alleles per locus varied between 9 and 48, and gene diversity ranged from 0.190 to 0.968. Significant F(ST) and differences in allele frequencies were observed among most samples, as well as heterozygous deficiency, which was indicative of a Wahlund's effect. These results implied the existence of genetically distinct populations on a microgeographic scale (less than 10 km) and that our samples represented an admixture of char from those populations that interchange among rivers for owerwintering, in congruence with tagging investigations. These results indicate that microsatellites potentially offer more sensitivity than allozymes and mitochondrial DNA to infer fine-scale population structure in anadromous arctic char.