Medycyna Wet. 65 (5), 315-318, 2009
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| Keszka S., Panicz R., Kempter J. |
| Eel species identification by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) |
| Eels offered on the Polish market are not only imported mainly from China but also from domestic catches. It is known that Chinese breeders are buying most of their montèe eels from Europe, so it is highly probable that Chinese eels are Anguilla anguilla, but also Anguilla japonica. There is no data available concerning ratio between these two species on the Polish market. Morphological methods applied to establish this ratio are not reliable enough. Therefore the aim of the presently reported study was to differentiate the eel species using molecular methods. A total of 31 freshwater eels were collected from a local importer (21 samples) and from Lake Miedwie near Szczecin (10 samples). At the beginning of the eel identification process morphometric measurements have been performed. In attempting to distinguish A. japonica and A. anguilla PCR products of partial 16S rRNA gene, a PCR-RFLP procedure was applied, which is mainly base on nucleotide differences between species sequences. In this method the ApaI restriction enzyme was used to conduct the digestion of the PCR product. Primers named Ang211F and Ang211R were designed for the amplification the 211 bp of 16S rRNA sequence of both eel species. Electrophoretic pattern of PCR products from A. japonica and A. anguilla did not indicate any difference in length. As a result, ApaI produced fragments of 135 and 76 bp only for A. japonica, while the A. anguilla sequence was not digested with its length of 211 bp. Products of ApaI digestion of partial 16S rRNA gene of A. japonica and A. anguilla are suitable genetic markers to distinguish both eel species. |
| Keywords: fish, Anguilla anguilla, Anguilla japonica, eel, mtDNA, 16S rRNA |