Mitochondrial DNA variation in chinook salmon and chum salmon detected by restriction enzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction products

We analyze intraspecific mitochondrial DNA variation in chinook salmon from drainages in the Yukon River, the Kenai River, and Oregon and California rivers; and chum salmon from the Yukon River and vancouver Island, and Washington rivers. For each species, three different portions of the mtDNA molecule were amplified seperately using the polymerase chain reaction and then digested with at least 19 restrictions enzymes. Intraspecific sequence divergences between haplotypes were less than 0.01 base subsitution per nucleotide. Nine chum salmon haplotypes were identified. Yukon River chum salmon stocks displayed more haplotypes (8) occurred in all areas. Seven chinook salmon haplotypes were identified. Four haplotypes occurred in the Yukon and Kenai rviers and four occurred in the Oregon/California, with only one haplotype shared between the regions. Sample sizes were too small to quantify the degree of stock seperation among drainages, but the patterns of variation that we observed suggest utility of the technique in genetic stock identification.