[Linking quantitation of electrophoresis pattern and data analysis in AFLP for Oncomelania hupensis]

To search into a method for analyzing the quantitative data in amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) electrophoresis.

Oncomelania snails collected from the field were screened. Forty snails found uninfected with schistosomiasis were divided randomly into two groups and used to isolate genomic DNA. AFLP electrophoresis pattern was first transformed into quantitative data by Glyko BandScan software, and the bands were read according to different standards of band-reading to acquire the corresponding data. These data sets were analyzed by genetic statistics to get an inference set, and the analysis of this inference set was performed to reach a summary description.

The results of genetic variation from different standards of band-reading were different With the increase of the standard value of band-reading, the indices indicating the genetic polymorphism of Oncomelania hupensis population (e.g. Shannon's information index) also increased. When the standard value reached at certain level, the values of these indices began to decrease. Compared with the above indices, the change for gene flow turned out contrary to the genetic identity. The distributions of inference results from different standards of band-reading all showed significant normal distribution. The mean value of genetic variation based on total grey was very close to that on the proportion of total grey. The average genetic identity between the "subpopulations" was 0.956 according to proportion of total grey or 0.958 from the total grey with an average genetic distance between the "subpopulations" of 0.045 and 0.043 respectively.

It seems to be a reasonable and accurate method by quantifying the AFLP electrophoresis pattern followed by analyzing the data through the use of the different standards of band-reading.