Chromosome evolution in African cichlid fish: contributions from the physical mapping of repeated DNAs.

Cichlid fishes have been the subject of increasing scientific interest because of their rapid adaptive radiation that has led to extensive ecological diversity and because of their enormous importance to tropical and subtropical aquaculture. To further understanding of chromosome evolution among cichlid species, we have comparatively mapped the SATA satellite DNA, the transposable element ROn-1, and repeated sequences in the bacterial artificial chromosome clone BAC-C4E09 on the chromosomes of a range of African species of Cichlidae, using fluorescence in situ hybridization. The SATA satellite DNA was mapped in almost all the centromeres of all tilapiine and haplochromine species studied. The maintenance and centromeric distribution of the SATA satellite DNA in African cichlids suggest that this sequence plays an important role in the organization and function of the centromere in these species. Furthermore, analysis of SATA element distribution clarifies that chromosome fusions occurred independently in Oreochromis and Tilapia genera, and led to the reduced chromosome number detected in O. karongae and T. mariae. The comparative chromosome mapping of the ROn-1 SINE-like element and BAC-C4E09 shows that the repeated sequences have been maintained among tilapiine, haplochromine and hemichromine fishes and has demonstrated the homology of the largest chromosomes among these groups. Furthermore, the mapping of ROn-1 suggested that different chromosomal rearrangements could have occurred in the origin of the largest chromosome pairs of tilapiines and non-tilapiines.

Effect of a major QTL affecting IPN resistance on production traits in Atlantic salmon.

This study investigated the effect of a major QTL for resistance to IPN in salmon on performance and production traits. The traits studied were related to growth, fillet and gutted yields, and fat content. Two different analyses were performed: (1) regression of the phenotypic data of the production traits on the predicted number of resistant IPN-QTL alleles in individuals and (2) a variance component analysis using the (co)variance matrix calculated at the putative location of the QTL. No significant effect of the QTL was detected on any of the traits investigated by either method. The result has important practical implications in that it encourages the use of MAS to reduce the risks and impact of IPN mortality.

Segregation of infectious pancreatic necrosis resistance QTL in the early life cycle of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar).

In a previous study, three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with resistance to Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN) disease were identified by analysing challenge data from one sub-population of Landcatch Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolt. While these QTL were shown to affect the resistance in seawater, their effect in freshwater was unknown. This study investigates the effect of these QTL on IPN resistance in salmon fry in freshwater. Twenty families with intermediate levels of IPN mortality were analysed from a freshwater challenge trial undertaken on a different sup-population of LNS salmon to that studied previously. Only the QTL from linkage group 21 (LG21) appeared to have a significant and large effect on resistance in freshwater; the same QTL was found to have the largest effect in seawater in the previous study. Variance component analysis showed a high heritability for the QTL: 0.45±0.07 on the liability scale and 0.25±0.05 on the observed scale. In a family where both parents were segregating for the QTL, there was a 0% vs. 100% mortality in homozygous offspring for resistant and susceptible QTL alleles. The finding that the same QTL has major effect in both freshwater and seawater has important practical implications, as this will allow the improvement of resistance in both phases through marker assisted selection by targeting this QTL. Moreover, the segregation of the LG21 QTL in a different sub-population gives further evidence of its association with IPN-resistance.

The susceptibility of Atlantic salmon fry to freshwater infectious pancreatic necrosis is largely explained by a major QTL.

Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is a viral disease with a significant negative impact on the global aquaculture of Atlantic salmon. IPN outbreaks can occur during specific windows of both the freshwater and seawater stages of the salmon life cycle. Previous research has shown that a proportion of the variation seen in resistance to IPN is because of host genetics, and we have shown that major quantitative trait loci (QTL) affect IPN resistance at the seawater stage of production. In the current study, we completed a large freshwater IPN challenge experiment to allow us to undertake a thorough investigation of the genetic basis of resistance to IPN in salmon fry, with a focus on previously identified QTL regions. The heritability of freshwater IPN resistance was estimated to be 0.26 on the observed scale and 0.55 on the underlying scale. Our results suggest that a single QTL on linkage group 21 explains almost all the genetic variation in IPN mortality under our experimental conditions. A striking contrast in mortality is seen between fry classified as homozygous susceptible versus homozygous resistant, with QTL-resistant fish showing virtually complete resistance to IPN mortality. The findings highlight the importance of the major QTL in the genetic regulation of IPN resistance across distinct physiological lifecycle stages, environmental conditions and viral isolates. These results have clear scientific and practical implications for the control of IPN.