Estrategias en el diagnóstico molecular para la identificación de especies comerciales de moluscos bivalvos

Abstract

The culture of bivalve mollusks represents approximately the 8% of the world fish production and the 26% of the world aquaculture production. Bivalve mollusk culture began of the Atlantic Coast of France and Spain in the first quarter of the 20th century, it developed rapidly and its production has been increasing in the last 50 years worldwide, with a considerable increase of its production in the last decade. Spain is the main bivalve mollusks aquaculture producer in Europe, with an annual production of 275,000 tons, and with production dominated by of blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. The main bivalve culture regions are concentrated in Galicia (Northwest of Spain) and Andalucia (South of Spain). Following the normative of the European legislation (Regulation Nr 104/2000 of Dec. 17, 1999), on the common organization of the markets in fishery and aquaculture, the fishery and aquaculture products (including bivalve mollusks) before retail must be correctly labeled with the commercial name of the species, the production method, and the capture zone. Thus, an appropriate labeling of bivalve species offered for sale is impor- tant in order to assure consumers of the identity and quality of the seafood products they purchase. To ensure these issues, seafood products should have had to go through a series of very different analyses requiring quite different expertise and equipment. Nowadays, thanks to the development of molecular biological techniques and in particular the polymerase chain reaction, the same technical principles and equipment can be applied to answer questions about the ingredients used and the safety of foodstuffs. DNA molecular markers constitute the most powerful tools for authenti- cation and traceability in commercial aquaculture products. These markers can be developed from specific sequences or anonymous regions of DNA. This work will describe some of the applications of these modern techniques to ensure seafood safety and identity mainly in bivalve seafood products.