Genetic study on population structure in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)

The population structure and its maintenance, and the genetic feature of chum salmon (Q. keta ) populations are examined in the current study which will form a basis for the resource management and the study of artificial propagation and transplantations in future. In the current study, population analysis of chum salmon in major distribution area is made to define the population structure and genetic feature of chum salmon as a whole as well as the characteristics and the genetic structure of Japanese chum salmon. The population examined include 11 populations on the Continent of North America, three populations in the U.S.S.R. and 43 river populations in Japan. Genetic data were collected from analysis of 14 enzymes. Genetic variants were identified in 16 loci coding for ten out of the above 14 enzymes. Population analysis was made based on the phenotypic and allelic frequencies of each examined population, the average heterozygosity (H) and genetic distance (D) among the examined population.