Genetic variability of the Saudi Arabian Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis using protein and isoenzymes electrophoreses

Electrophoresis for SDS-proteins and isoenzymes were conducted to investigate the genetic variations within the agamid lizard Uromastyx aegyptia microlepis inhabiting the desert of Saudi Arabia. Samples were collected from four localities: a) Ushayrah near the town of Taif, b) Al Gwaih near Riyadh, c) Nairyah near Dammam and d) Mouileh near Tabok. A range of 7 to 14 protein bands were recorded in the patterns of the studied samples as measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Among them, only one fraction was recorded in all samples as a common protein band. Six arbitrary chosen enzymes were examined by native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. They were α and β esterase (Est), acid phosphatase (Acph), Alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh), Aldehyde oxidase (Ao) and peroxidase (Px). Seventeen heterogeneous alleles have been recorded; seven of them were fixed in all populations and 10 were polymorphic. Nearly all recorded alleles were monomeric in all samples. α-Est2, β-Est2, Acph2 and Px1 were restricted to Tabok samples and were not recorded in other localities. β-Est3, Acph3, Adh1, Adh1and Px2 were not recorded in Taif samples and the latter one was not recorded in the Dammam samples. The similarity coefficient that has been calculated according to the number of sharing bands indicated the clustering of Tabok and Dammam populations together. The constructed tree based on the sharing protein bands and isozyme alleles revealed similar results regarding the kinship of both populations. The present results indicated that the populations of this subspecies exhibits high genetic variability among its populations.