Abstract
Genetic heterogeneity and polymorphism in muscle proteins present in the meat of wild and cultured Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala was performed using SDS-PAGE. Cultured L. rohita and C. mrigala possessed more proteins than those in the wild ones and were dependent on their weight. Un-weighed pair group method with arithmetic average cluster analysis delineated a 50% linkage distance. Fish weight dissimilarity coefficient ranged from 1.73 to 3.87 in eight clusters at 75% linkage distance. The overall grouping pattern of clusters corresponded well with principal co-ordinate analysis and confirmed overall patterns of genetic variability among these species. These results provide useful guidelines for conservation and characterization of fish genetic resources for mass rearing or marker assisted breeding.