Application of molecular genetics to the understanding of abalone population structure - Australian and South African case studies

The structure of abalone populations is still poorly understood worldwide, and yet it is a major input to many management issues: wild fishery management, control of illegal fishing, selection of aquaculture broodstock and assessment of translocation or enhancement programs. Molecular genetic techniques have been advancing rapidly and there are now a number of techniques suitable for use in examination of population structure, each with relevant advantages and disadvantages. We report here on the application of two different types of molecular markers - mitochondrial RFLPs and nuclear microsatellites. The discriminatory power of the mitochondrial genome will be reported from studies conducted on both Australian (Haliotis rubra) and South African (Haliotis midae) abalone species. In addition, preliminary results will be presented from an on-going industry-funded microsatellite study on the major Australian blacklip abalone (H. rubra) population around the island of Tasmania. One aim of this two-year study is to apply a suite of polymorphic microsatellite loci to samples collected from 19 selected sites within the fishery, plus several sites along the southern Australian coastline. In addition, microsatellites developed from the blacklip abalone library have been tested for amplification and variation with other key Australian and overseas species to provide an initial suite of markers for use on populations of other species. The sampling plan and early results will be presented and discussed in context with other studies and our mitochondrial study.