The Center of Origin and Colonization Routes of Noble Salmons of the Genus Salmo (Salmonidae, Actinopterigii).

Genetic diversity and colonization routes of noble salmons were studied using a partial nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene. The brown trout S. trutta, which is the most ancient species of the genus, was concluded to originate from the modern southeastern Pontic-Caspian area, which is currently inhabited by members of the subspecies S. trutta oxianus. Migrating westward while the Paratethys was in existence (5-34 million years ago), species of the genus colonized ancient water bodies in the modern Mediterranean basin and formed many isolated populations that survived desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea (5-6 million years ago). The Strait of Gibraltar mediated brown trout migrations to Northern Europe; the subspecies S. trutta trutta belongs to a relatively young phylogenetic lineage of the species. A separate brown trout lineage, currently classified as the subspecies S. trutta labrax, formed most likely in the area of the modern Danube basin, which was a relatively separate part of the Paratethys and was sometimes isolated as the Pannonian Lake. A highly divergent phylogenetic lineage of Atlantic salmon (S. salar) haplotypes originates from a haplotype of the brown trout that inhabited the area of the modern Strait of Gibraltar.

[Gene pool differentiation between Altaic and trotting horse breeds inferred from ISSR-PCR marker data].

Using ISSR-PCR marker data, comparative analysis of the gene pools of Altaic and trotting horse breeds was carried out. Horse groups of different origin demonstrated differences in amplification spectra of DNA fragments flanked by inverted repeats of four microsatellites. Combinations of certain DNA fragments present in these profiles reproducibly distinguished genomes of the Altaic breed from the trotting breeds. Genetic differentiation between some trotting breeds, based on Nei genetic distance values, was found to be comparable to that between the groups of horses of Altaic breed from two different farms.