Abstract

Fishes in general and tilapia in particular are traded all over the world. However, it is difficult to find out their exact geographical location. One of the techniques used in the traceability of fish and its by-products consist in analysing in a global way the whole viable and non viable bacterial communities. For this purpose, the molecular technique employing the bacterial 16S DNA banding profiles generated by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) was used to evaluate the differences between the bacterial profiles of fishes from Vietnam (An Giang, south province) and those of Cameroon (Yagoua, Maga, Lagdo). The different PCR-DGGE 16S rDNA banding profiles obtained were analysed and results showed that there were specific bands for each geographical location though some bands common to Cameroon and Vietnam were observed. This method could be used as a rapid analytical traceability tool for fish products and could be considered as a provider of a unique biological bar code.

Key words:  Traceability, PCR-DGGE, bacterial community.