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The medically important mosquito, Aedes albopictus is native to Asia and has become a major health concern in most Asian countries including Malaysia. Being recognized as a dengue vector, a clearer understanding of how mosquito populations are geographically connected, may therefore represent a profound yet significant understanding of control strategies. There are no documented reports on the genetic structure of Ae. albopictus populations from different developed settlements inferred from microsatellite DNA markers in Malaysia, particularly in Penang Island (Northern Peninsular Malaysia). Here, we assessed the molecular population genetics of Ae. albopictus in terms of their allelic variation, genetic diversity and population structure. A total of 42 mosquitoes were sampled from Jelutong, Batu Maung and Balik Pulau which represented urban, suburban and rural areas in Penang Island respectively and analysed for polymorphism at six microsatellite loci. All of the microsatellite markers were successfully amplified and were polymorphic, showing low genetic structure among geographic populations (F

Genetic variability and differences in wild striped snakehead Channa striata from Malaysia were analysed by genotyping nine novel nuclear microsatellite loci. Analysis revealed moderate-to-high genetic diversity in most of the populations, indicative of large effective population sizes. The highly diversified populations are admixed populations and, therefore, can be recommended as potential candidates for selective breeding and conservation since they each contain most of the alleles found in their particular region. Three homogenous groups of the wild populations were identified, apparently separated by effective barriers, in accordance with contemporary drainage patterns. The highest population pairwise FST found between members of the same group reflects the ancient population connectivity; yet prolonged geographical isolation resulted in adaptation of alleles to local contemporary environmental change. A significant relationship between genetic distance and geographical isolation was observed (r = 0·644, P0·01). Anthropogenic perturbations indicated apparent genetic proximity between distant populations.

Mackerel (Scombridae; Rastrelliger) are small commercially important pelagic fish found in tropical regions. They serve as a cheap source of animal protein and are commonly used as live bait. By using a truss morphometrics protocol and RAPD analysis, we examined morphological and genetic variation among 77 individual mackerel that were caught using long lines and gillnets at 11 locations along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Nineteen morphometric traits were evaluated and genetic information was estimated using five 10-base RAPD random primers. Total DNA was extracted from muscle tissue. Morphometric discriminant function analysis revealed that two morphologically distinct groups of Rastrelliger kanagurta and a single group of R. brachysoma can be found along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. We also found that the head-related characters and those from the anterior part of the body of Rastrelliger spp significantly contribute to stock assessment of this population. RAPD analysis showed a trend similar to that of the morphometric analysis, suggesting a genetic component to the observed phenotypic differentiation. These data will be useful for developing conservation strategies for these species.

Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci for the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca),from a wild population in Spain are isolated and their variability escribed on 70 individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 6 to 41 and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.75 to 0.98. These markers are being used to study mating strategies in Ficedula hypoleuca iberiae.