Comparative restriction enzyme analysis of mitochondrial DNA in several populations of lake resident chars of the genus Salvelinus

Restriction enzyme analysis was employed in studying the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) ATPase6/ND4L region in several Northeast Asian populations of resident lake char of the genus Salvelinus. On evidence of mitotypes, genetic similarity was assumed for populations of neiva (Ueginskoe Lake), lake resident char from the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk (Mak-Mak Lake and Elekchanskie lakes), and dolly varden. Mitotype AAAA proved to be common for these populations. Lake char populations of the Juliet and Maxi lakes (the basin of the Kolyma river) had mitotype DBAA, which is similar to mitotype DBAB observed earlier in Taranetz char S. taranetzi from Chukotka. The divergence between mitotypes AAA and DBAA was estimated at 0.3%. Different origins were assumed for the lake resident char populations from the basins of the Sea of Okhotsk and of the Kolyma River, the former originating in the Pacific and the latter, in the Arctic basins.