The Lactate Dehydrogenase Gene LDH-C1, a New Molecular Marker for Phylogenetic Analysis of Salmonid Fishes (Salmoniformes: Salmonidae)

Abstract

We tested the locus of the nuclear lactate dehydrogenase gene (LDH-C1) as a phylogenetic marker in specimens of 11 salmonid genera (Thymallus, Coregonus, Hucho, Brachymystax, Salmo, Salmothymus, Acantholingua, Parahucho, Salvelinus, Parasalmo, and Oncorhynchus). All the sequences were veraciously clustered according to their taxonomic affiliation at the species and genus levels. It is shown that used complex of characters contains a phylogenetic signal that represents specific information about the phylogenesis process. This allows us to recommend the LDH-C1 locus to specify the phylogeny of salmonids in the combined analysis of several independent nuclear genes and mitochondrial DNA.