Protein loci in the Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus L.: electrophoretic expression and genetic variability patterns

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Abstract
In the search for electrophoretically detectable protein loci in the Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus L., tissue samples of eye, liver, and muscle from a total of 934 specimens collected at 10 Swedish localities were analysed. General protein staining and specific staining for 33 enzymes revealed 52 detectable loci; 37 of which were considered usable in population surveys. Variability was observed at four loci coding for esterase (est‐2), the liver‐specific form of lactate dehydrogenase (ldh‐3), and the skeletal muscle form of malate dehydrogenase (mdh‐4, 5); genetic variation at loci coding for ldh‐3 and mdh‐4, 5 has not previously been described in the Arctic charr. Relating our results to the multiple locus studies presented in the literature including Arctic charr from Ireland and North America reveals polymorphism at approximately one‐third of the loci studied in the Arctic charr, and the fraction of variable loci does not appear lower in this species than in other salmonids. There were highly significant allele frequency differences between samples. Nevertheless, there was a high degree of genetic similarity among all the populations sampled indicating that they were derived from a relatively recent common ancestor. The results are discussed in relation to the current controversy concerning the number of major evolutionary lines in Scandinavian Arctic charr.

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