Genetic relationships between Anatolian species and subspecies of Aphanius Nardo, 1827 (Pisces, Cyprinodontiformes) based on RAPD markers

Abstract

Anatolia is regarded as the center of diversification of Aphanius because 6 species and 4 subspecies of 14 Aphanius species described to date occur only in Anatolia. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to examine genetic relationship among Aphanius species and subspecies in Turkey. The average gene diversity between populations was 0.243 and only 38.78% of this diversity occurred within populations. Genetic variation between populations was in general congruent with the most recent classification of Aphanius based on morphological characteristics and of mitochondrial DNA sequence data. RAPD analysis has been useful in study of phylogenetic relationship of Aphanius species and subspecies from Anatolia.