Hybrid identification of “Sakemasu” collected in the Nemuro Strait, eastern Hokkaido, using DNA analysis

Abstract

  “Sakemasu” collected in the Nemuro Strait was identified as a hybrid between chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta and pink salmon O. gorbuscha using analyses of mtDNA and nuclear DNA. The nucleotide sequences of ATPase6, NADH3 of mtDNA and ITS1, ITS2, and Aromatase B-1 of nuclear DNA of O. keta and O. gorbuscha were compared to construct species specific primers (SSP). The combined results of SSP-PCR analysis of mtDNA and nuclear DNA indicated that six individuals from eleven “Sakemasu” are hybrids between chum and pink salmon. Some morphological features of crossbred “sakemasu” were mixed with parental traits.