Estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits in a hatchery population of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.)

Abstract

The gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) is one of the most important marine fish species produced in southern European countries. Over the last two decades, microsatellites have become a powerful tool for DNA studies of fish populations, making it possible to establish existing genealogical relationships between individuals and to perform reliable estimates of genetic parameters. In the present study, a total of 7959 fish (494 breeders and 7465 fry) were genotyped using two rounds of multiplex reactions with four microsatellite markers each. Offspring were assigned based on the Mendelian exclusion principles, using FAP program. Genealogical information was successfully obtained for more than 83 % of the progeny. Heritability estimates were close to 0.40 in all cases and for all considered traits. The lowest value was for the length at first age (350 ± 6 dph) and the highest for the length at the second age (500 ± 7 dph). The heritabilities for the first and the second weight were similar although somewhat higher for the second age, but not significant. The highest genetic correlations were found between weight and length at the same age and the lowest between weight and length at different ages. Based on the results of this study, it seems reasonable to expect that the implementation of a breeding program for improved growth in this population of gilthead sea bream will offer comparable & Tiago Fernandes

Influence of Genetic Selection for Growth and Broodstock Diet n-3 LC-PUFA Levels on Reproductive Performance of Gilthead Seabream, Sparus aurata

“…Broodstock selection in fish has been based on somatic growth [ 5 ], feed efficiency [ 6 ], disease resistance [ 7 ], deformities [ 8 , 9 ], fillet yield [ 10 , 11 , 12 ] or fillet fatty acid composition [ 13 , 14 ]. Selective breeding programs in gilthead seabream have also addressed improved growth performance, disease resistance and carcass quality [ 15 ].…”

“…In Europe, 31 to 44% of gilthead seabream seed comes from breeder selection processes [ 2 ], mainly for growth performance and morphology as selected traits [ 17 ] and genetic improvement per generation of 5–29% [ 1 , 3 ]. Seabream broodstock selection by Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) methodology has been based on somatic growth and morphology in commercial hatcheries [ 5 ], as well as on growth, carcass, flesh and fish quality and disease resistance on a series of jointly projects from commercial and public research hatcheries, known as PROGENSA [ 15 ]. In those projects, a weak association was found between families selected for growth (low and high Estimated Breeding Values (EBV)) and the type of diet (fish or plant ingredients based diet), denoting that selection for faster growth is linked with different growth trajectories and a high diet flexibility and intestinal plasticity [ 18 ].…”

Parental LC-PUFA biosynthesis capacity and nutritional intervention with ALA affect performance of Sparus aurata progeny

“…In this sense, blood fatty acid composition or fads2 expression could be used as an important trait. Although there are genetic selection programmes in gilthead seabream such as the public Spanish breeding programme PROGENSA ® (Afonso et al, 2012), and other commercial breeding programmes (Fernandes et al, 2017;Thorland et al, 2015) which include selection pressure on growth traits and an absence of body deformities (García-Celdrán et al, 2015;Lee-Montero et al, 2015), up to now there has been no information about the use of fads2 expression as a biological biomarker in fish.…”

Scanning of Genetic Variants and Genetic Mapping of Phenotypic Traits in Gilthead Sea Bream Through ddRAD Sequencing

“…It ranks first among other aquacultured species in South Mediterranean with total production of 160,563 tons for 2016 (FEAP, 2017). One of the top interests of the aquaculture industry is the genetic improvement of the stocks to maximize the efficiency of the production and the product quality (Fernandes et al, 2017). Coupled with this concern, various areas of sea bream biology are being explored, such as nutrition requirements (Silva-Merrero et al, 2017; Guardiola et al, 2018), immune responses (Antonopoulou et al, 2017; Bahi et al, 2018; Tapia-Paniagua et al, 2018), skeletal development (Negrín Báez et al, 2015; Vélez et al, 2018), reproduction, and broodstock management (Loukovitis et al, 2011).…”