Wilson R R, Donaldson K A
Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 33701, USA.
Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol. 1998 Mar;7(1):39-47.
We tested the feasibility of recovering from wild populations mitochondrial DNA genetic "tags" that might result from release of hatchery-reared fingerlings for marine stock enhancement. A practical, nondestructive method of genetic "tag" recovery would allow quantitative assessment of the efficacy of such programs. A rare mtDNA variant with two sites each instead of one for TaqI and RsaI in the control region was used as a mock genetic "tag" in snook (Centropomus undecimalis). We assayed for the variant among nearly 900 fish by restriction digests of DNA amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) obtained from fin-clip extracts, finding only a single second example of the variant. Thus, mtDNA "tags" can be nondestructively assayed for with specificity among hundreds of individuals.
