The use of molecular markers to assess native oyster restorationefforts

摘要

Restoration efforts are becoming essential in managing many of our ecological resources. Monitoring the efficacy of these programs is essential for evaluating their cost-effectiveness and testing alternative restoration techniques. A majority of oyster restoration efforts use hatchery-produced strains derived from a native stock; however, identifying seed derived from the native population is difficult and requires a high degree of specificity and accuracy. Recent advances in genetic techniques provide high-throughput cost-effective methods for discriminating outplanted seed and their progeny from natives. Our approach is based on shifts in mitochondrial haplotype frequencies occurring during the course of hatchery propagation. Typical natural populations of oysters possess a single major haplotype and an abundance of rare haplotypes. As a result of population bottlenecks during propagation, hatchery seed will often exhibit elevated frequencies of one or more haplotypes that are rare in the source population, allowing discrimination between hatchery seed and natives. Using high-throughput screening techniques, we have identified mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) that distinguish hatchery seed planted in the Chesapeake Bay. These markers will be used to determine if outplanted oysters survived and contributed to local recruitment. Even when enhancement stocks are derived from local broodstocks, high-throughput molecular genotyping techniques can allow effective monitoring of enhancement efforts.