An electrophoretic study of protein diversity in five species of land snails (Achatinidae) from Nigeria

The protein profile of five species of achatinid snails ( Archachatina marginata (Swainson, 1821), Achatina achatina (Linnaeus, 1758), Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822), Archachatina papyracea (Pfeiffer, 1845) and an unidentified snail species) from some parts of southern and north-central states of Nigeria was used to examine the level of genetic similarity between them and also to show whether the eight populations of Archachatina marginata studied contained sub-populations. Each of the species examined was found to have unique protein bands while the protein banding patterns of the eight populations of A. marginata showed six of the populations being taxonomically distinct because they had unique protein bands. The cluster analysis of the A. marginata samples produced two sub-species which showed geographical separation of the species. This may depict a relationship between total protein and ecological adaptation. However, there was better resolution of the protein band patterns using relative mobility of bands. The presence of common bands among the species and the eight populations of A. marginata may depict an evidence of evolutionary origin of the species studied. © 2013 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Keywords: Achatina spp., Archachatina spp., protein, electrophoresis, taxonomy.