Molecular Characterization of an Unidentified Cichlid, Commonlly Called, ‘Wesafu’, Using Rapd Markers

Abstract

Abstarct: Genetic variation and divergence within and between the taxa of interest are assessed by the presence or absence of each product, which is dictated by changes in the DNA sequence at each locus. The study was conducted to assess the genetic differences between population of 'wesafu' and other cichlids in Epe legoon, Lagos, Nigeria and determine the level of divergence of 'wesafu' from other species of cichlids in Epe lagoon for baseline documentation. The genomic DNA was isolated using the standard phenol-chloroform method. Primer OPC-04 (5' CCG CAT CTA C 3'), which are arbitrary primers, were used to type the isolates. The results showed that of the 40 fish isolates typed, 29 isolates (17 of 'Wesafu' and 12 of other cichlids) were positive for RAPD DNA bands after amplification. This gives a type ability of 72.5%. The difference observed between 'Wesafu' and other cichlids in typeability with OPC-04 was not significant (P = 0.08). Fingerprint analyses revealed 6 distinct RAPD types, 3 for 'wesafu' and 3 for other species of cichlids with molecular sizes of 100-500 base pairs. RAPD profile B was elicited by 58.3% of the Tilapia (other cichlids) isolates, while profile F was elicited by 53% of the 'Wesafu' isolates. These most occurring RAPD profiles were not significant (P > 0.05) when compared with other RAPD profiles seen. RAPD-PCR proves to be reliable as a typing tool for discriminating 'Wesafu' from other cichlids (tilapia) isolates in Epe Lagoon. 'Wesafu' and other (cichlids) tilapia in the Epe Lagoon present fish population from 3 distinct clones.