A simple method for the genetic identification of commercially important species in the Opisthonema genus Gill, 1861 in the southern Gulf of California

espanolSe aplico la tecnica de reaccion en cadena de la polimerasa-polimorfismos de longitud de fragmentos de restriccion (PCR-RFLP, por sus siglas en ingles) para identificar 3 especies del genero Opisthonema ( Opisthonema bulleri , Opisthonema medirastre y Opisthonema libertate ) en la region sur del golfo de California. Se disenaron 2 pares de iniciadores especificos para amplificar el gen mitocondrial COI y se seleccionaron 3 enzimas de restriccion ( Hpa II, Rsa I y Ava II) para comparar los patrones de RFLP entre las especies. Diferentes niveles de polimorfismo fueron detectados entre las muestras. Se generaron perfiles de restriccion especificos faciles de analizar, los cuales pudieran distinguir de manera inequivoca las 3 especies objetivo. El enfoque llevado a cabo aqui usando PCR-RFLP es relativamente barato, rapido y robusto, y proporciona una tecnica util para la identificacion de las especies del genero Opisthonema. . EnglishThe polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to identify 3 species in the genus Opisthonema ( Opisthonema bulleri , Opisthonema medirastre , and Opisthonema libertate ) in the southern Gulf of California. Two specific primer pairs were designed to amplify the COI mitochondrial gene and 3 restriction enzymes ( Hpa II, Rsa I, and Ava II) were selected to compare the RFLP patterns among the species. Different polymorphism levels were detected among samples. Easily analyzed specific restric- tion profiles were created, which differentiated unequivocally among the 3 target species. The approach undertaken here using PCR-RFLP is relatively cheap, fast, and robust, providing a useful technique for the identification of species in the genus Opisthonema. .