The Preliminary Evidence For Low Genetic Diversity in Chinese Sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) Revealed By Protein Electrophoresis

Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is an endangered species under first rank protection in China.The abundance has been depleting due to overfishing,pollution and dam construction etc.Gezhouba dam already cut off the migratory route and a few broods have been forced to spawn below Gezhouba dam.The Three Gorges Dam will further change hydrological regime of the Yangtze River and has adverse effect on the fishs spawning grounds.In order to make sound conservation program and monitor the resources population,genetics studies on Chinese sturgeon were carried out.In this paper we report results from protein electrophoresis.Total 15 proteins were studied and only 11 proteins are activity detectable.Conservatively,among 11 proteins 26 loci were screened.Among 26 loci screened only 1 locus (MDH-1) was polymorphic and the others were monomorphism.The percentage of polymorphic loci (P) and heterozygosity (H) was 0.039 and 0.004 respectively.The genetic variation at protein level is poor compared with those of the other bony fishes.The present result reflects basic picture of genetic diversity before construction of Gezhouba dam and basic data for monitoring resources in future.