Molecular characterization of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792) stock in India

Abstract

In India, rainbow trout was introduced by British more than 100 years ago (Agarwal 2006) for recreational purposes. The fish is being cultured in both government and private farms of different coldwater states of India, mainly in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and also in Nilgiri hills of south India for breeding and rearing purposes. In recent past, growth and production rate of this fish in various farms has been reduced. Microsatellite markers in combination with recent statistical approaches represent a useful tool for genetic characterization which ultimately supports the management of cultured stocks. These markers have been successfully used to evaluate the wild and farm stocks of rainbow trout in western Australia (Ward et al. 2003); resident and anadromus forms in the Walla Walla river (Narum et al. 2004); domesticated strains of rainbow trout in USA (Silverstein et al. 2004); strains in northern and eastern Europe (Gross et al. 2007) and three groups of different origin in north of Iran (Yousefian et al. 2012). Hence, the present study was carried out to assess the genetic variability in different stocks of rainbow trout in India using microsatellite markers.