DNA polymorphism of the plankton communities from the Songhuajiang River, China was investigated by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and the relationship between DNA fingerprinting and species composition was explored then. All the detected bands were polymorphic, and the individual bands accounted for 30.2%. Totally, 66 plankton species were detected by morphological identification, and no common species was found. These results indicated that there may be some significant differences among the investigated plankton communities, which were determined by their environmental discrepancies. Based on the DNA fingerprinting, three main groups of plankton communities were identified by UPGMA clustering. Group one consisted of Tongjiang (TJ), Hongqi (HQ) and Jiamusi (JS); group 2 contained Shaokou (SK), Zhaoyuan (ZY) and Harbin (HB); and group 3 comprised only Songyuan (SY). When using the data of species composition, the plankton community from HQ was most similar to that from SK; TJ was most similar to JS; and the other three sites comprised one group. In fact, the DNA fingerprinting of the target community was biased toward those species occurring with relatively high abundance. Therefore, it mainly reflected the relationship between the community and environment. Because river flow randomly brought some plankton organisms from upstream to downstream, the qualitative analysis of the species composition could mainly reflect the spatial distribution of the sampling sites. DNA fingerprinting of the plankton communities can play an increasingly important role in studying the relationship between each community and its environment, and provide useful information for the aquatic environment assessment. Fig 4, Tab 3, Ref 21.
Yan Qingyun; Yu Yuhe (yhyu@ihb.ac.cn) ; Feng Weisong; Liu Yongding; Hu Chunxiang; Tang Huiyuan; Peng Liang; Qiu Zijian.DNA fingerprinting and species composition of the plankton communities in the Songhuajiang River, China,Chinese Journal of Applied and Environmental Biology,2008,14(1):59-63
