Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Polyphyly of mtDNA lineages in the Russian sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii: forensic and evolutionary implications

  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Molecular species identification methods are an important component of CITES monitoring programs for trade in sturgeon and caviar. To date, obtaining molecular evidence for distinguishing caviar from four closely related Eurasian sturgeon species Acipenser baerii (Siberian sturgeon), A. gueldenstaedtii (osetra), A. persicus (Persian sturgeon), A. naccarii (Italian sturgeon) remains problematic. Using approximately 2.3 kb of mtDNA sequence data (cytochrome b, NADH5, control region), we find this to be attributable to the polyphyletic nature of these mitochondrial DNA markers in the Russian sturgeon, A. gueldenstaedtii. Two mitochondrial lineages are present within this species: one is phylogenetically affiliated with A. persicus and A. naccarii, while the other clusters with A. baerii. These findings have a direct impact on molecular testing of commercial caviar and demonstrate the necessity of using large sample sizes when constructing forensic databases. Furthermore, the results affect current taxonomic designations for these species as well as hypotheses concerning their evolutionary origins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Amato G, Gatesy J, Brazaitis P (1998) PCR assays of variable nucleotide sites for identification of conservation units: an example from Caiman. In: Molecular Approaches to Ecology and Evolution (eds. DeSalle, R., Schierwater R), pp. 177–190. Birkhauser, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arkhipov SA (1998) Stratigraphy and palaeogeography of the Sartan glaciation in west Siberia. Quat. Int., 45/46, 29–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arlati G, Bronzi P, Colombo L, Giovannini G (1988) Induced breeding of the Italian sturgeon (Acipenser naccarii) reared in captivity. Riv. Ital. Acquacol., 23, 94–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artyukhin EN, Zarkua ZG (1986) Taxonomic status of sturgeon of the Rioni River (Black Sea basin). Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 26, 61–67 (in Russian; English translation: J. Ichthyol., 26, 29–36).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker CS, Cipriano F, Palumbi SR (1996) Molecular genetic identi-fication of whale and dolphin products from commercial markets in Japan. Mol. Ecol., 5, 671–685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker CS, Perry A, Bannister JL, Weinrich MT, Abernaty RB, Calambokidis J, Lein J, Lambersten RH, Ramirez J (1993) Abundant mitochondrial DNA variation and world-wide population structure in humpback whales. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 90, 8239–8243.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barannikova IA (1957) Biological differentiation of the stocks of the Volga River-Caspian Sea sturgeons (in connection with the tasks of sturgeon farming in the Volga River delta). Uchenye Zapiski Leningradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 228, 57–72 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett SE, Davidson WS (1992) FINS (Forensically informative nucleotide sequences): A procedure for identifying the animal origin of biological specimens. BioTechniques, 12, 408–411.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1928) On the origin of the northern elements in the fauna of the Caspian Sea. Dokl. Akad. Nauk USSR Seriya A, 7, 107–112 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1934a) Acipenser guldenstadti persicus, a sturgeon from the South Caspian Sea. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 10, 317–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1934b) Vernal and hiemal races among anadromous fishes. Izvestya Akademii Nauk SSSR, 5, 711–732 [in Russian; English translation: J. Fish Res. Board Can., 16, 515–537 (1959)].

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg LS (1948) The Freshwater Fishes of the USSR and Adjacent Countries, Vol. 1. Akademia Nauk USSR, Moscow and Leningrad. Part 1 (in Russian, English translation published by Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem. 505 pp).

    Google Scholar 

  • Birstein VJ, Bemis WE (1997) How many species are there within the genus Acipenser? In: Sturgeon Biodiversity and Conservation (eds. Birstein VJ, Waldman JR, Bemis WE), pp. 157–163. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birstein, VJ, Bemis WE, Waldman JR (1997) The threatened status of acipenseriform fishes: a summary. In: Sturgeon Biodiversity and Conservation (eds. Birstein VJ, Waldman JR, Bemis WE), pp. 423–431. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birstein VJ, DeSalle R (1998) Molecular phylogeny of Acipenserinae. Molec. Phylogen. and Evol., 9, 141–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birstein VJ, Doukakis P, DeSalle R (1999) Molecular phylogeny of Acipenserinae and black caviar species identification. J. Appl. Ichthyol., 15, 12–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birstein VJ, Doukakis P, Sorkin B, DeSalle R (1998) Population aggregation analysis of three caviar-producing species of sturgeons and implications for the species identification of black caviar. Conserv. Biol., 12, 766–775.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borodin N (1897) A report about a summer 1895 zoological expedition on the board of the kruizer Uralets in the northern part of the Caspian Sea. Vestnik Rybopromyshlennosti, Rubovodstva i Rybolovstva, 12, 1–31 (in Russian).

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis JI, Nixon KC (1992) Populations, genetic variation, and the determination of phylogenetic species. Syst. Biol., 41, 421–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSalle R, Birstein VJ (1996) PCR identification of black caviar. Nature, 381, 197–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSalle R, Williams AK, George M (1993) Isolation and characterization of animal mitochondrial DNA. In: Methods in Enzymology. Molecular Evolution: Producing the Biochemical Data. Volume 224 (eds. Zimmer EA, White TJ, Cann RL, Wilson AC), pp. 176–204. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doukakis P, Birstein VJ, Ruban GI, DeSalle, R (1999) Molecular genetic analysis among subspecies of two Eurasian sturgeon species, Acipenser baerii, and A. stellatus. Mol. Ecol., 8(S12), 117–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heist EJ, Gold JR (1998) Genetic identification of sharks in the U.S. Atlantic large coastal shark fishery. Fish. Bull., 97, 53–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig A, Kirschbaum F (1998) Comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences between the European and the Adriatic sturgeon. J. Fish Biol., 52, 1289–1291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen M M, Hansen, K-L, Mensberg D (1998) Improved primer sequence for the mt ND1, ND 3/4, ND 5/6 sequences in salmonid fishes: application to RFLP analysis of Atlantic salmon. J. Fish Biol., 53, 216–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison W P, Maddison DR (1992) MacClade, version 3. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruban GI (1996) The Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baerii, population status in the Ob River. Sturgeon Quart., 4(1/2), 8–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruban GI (1997) Species structure, contemporary distribution and status of the Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baerii. In: Sturgeon Biodiversity and Conservation (eds. Birstein VJ, Waldman JR, Bemis W), pp. 221–230. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabeau L (1997) Sturgeon aquaculture in France. In: Caspian Environment Program. Proceedings from the First Bio-network Workshop, Bordeaux, November, 1997 (eds Dumont H, Wilson S, Wazniewicz B), pp. 43–49. World Bank.

  • Swofford DL (1999) PAUP*. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (* and other methods). Version 4.0b2. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tortonese E (1989) Acipenser naccarii Bonaparte, 1836. In: The Freshwater Fishes of Europe. Vol. 1. pt. II. General Introduction to Fishes. Acipenseriformes (ed. Holcik J), pp. 285–293. AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden (Germany).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlasenko AD, Pavlov AV, Vasil'ev VP (1989a) Acipenser gueldenstaedti Brandt, 1833. In: The Freshwater Fishes of Europe. Vol. 1. pt. II. General Introduction to Fishes. Acipenseriformes (ed. Holcik J), pp. 294–344. AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden (Germany).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vlasenko AD, Pavlov AV, Vasil'ev, VP (1989b) Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1897. In: The Freshwater Fishes of Europe. Vol. 1. pt. II. General Introduction to Fishes. Acipenseriformes (ed. Holcik J), pp. 345–366. AULA-Verlag, Wiesbaden (Germany).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonneveld KAF (1996) Palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the last deglaciation (18–8 ka B.P.) in the Adriatic Sea region; a land-sea correlation based on palynological evidence. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 122, 89–106.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sturgeon Conservation International, 331 West 57th Street, Suite 159, New York, NY, 10019, USA;

    Vadim J. Birstein

  2. Department of Entomology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York, 10024, USA;

    Phaedra Doukakis & R. DeSalle

  3. Department of Ecology/Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Arts and Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Phaedra Doukakis

Authors
  1. Vadim J. Birstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Phaedra Doukakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. DeSalle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vadim J. Birstein.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Birstein, V.J., Doukakis, P. & DeSalle, R. Polyphyly of mtDNA lineages in the Russian sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii: forensic and evolutionary implications. Conservation Genetics 1, 81–88 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010141906100

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010141906100

Search

Navigation