Morphological variability between wild populations and inbred stocks of a Chinese minnow, Gobiocypris rarus

Gobiocypris rarus, a small, native cyprinid fish, is currently widely used in research on fish pathology, genetics, toxicology, embryology, and physiology in China. To develop this species as a model laboratory animal, inbred strains have been successfully created. In this study, to explore a method to discriminate inbred strains and evaluate inbreeding effects, morphological variation among three wild populations and three inbred stocks of G. rarus was investigated by the multivariate analysis of eight meristic and 30 morphometric characters. Tiny intraspecific variations in meristic characters were found, but these were not effective for population distinction. Stepwise discriminant analysis and cluster analysis of conventional measures and truss network data showed considerabe divergence among populations, especially between wild populations and inbred stocks. The average discriminant accuracy for all populations was 82.1% based on conventional measures and 86.4% based on truss data, whereas the discriminant accuracy for inbred strains was much higher. These results suggested that multivariate analyses of morphometric characters are an effective method for discriminating inbred strains of G. rarus. Morphological differences between wild populations and inbred strains appear to result from both genetic differences and environmental factors. Thirteen characters, extracted from stepwise discriminant analysis, played important roles in morphological differentiation. These characters were mainly measures related to body depth and head size.

眼镜蛇毒因子消耗补体对大鼠移植心急性排斥反应的抑制作用

目的 研究中华眼镜蛇毒因子(CVF)消耗补体对大鼠心脏移植急性排斥反应的影响.方法 以近交系BN大鼠为供者,Lewis大鼠为受者,建立腹腔异位心脏移植模型.实验分为2组,每组8只.CVF组:心脏移植术前3 d、2 d时,经受者尾静脉注射CVF 50 μg/kg;术前12 h至移植心停跳时,经尾静脉注射CVF 20 μg/kg,每2 d注射1次.对照组:术前、术后不给予受者任何特殊处理.术后观察移植心的存活时间,测定术后第1、3、5和6d及移植心停跳时的血清总补体活性(CH50法)、移植心C3沉积及CD3+T细胞浸润情况,并观察移植心的病理变化.结果 CVF组和对照组的移植心存活时间分别为(11.69±0.72)d和(6.65±0.35)d,两组比较,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01).CVF组移植心组织内C3沉积和CD3+T细胞浸润程度均较对照组同期明显减轻,病理损害程度也较对照组同期明显减轻.结论 CVF消耗补体对大鼠心脏移植急性排斥反应起到了明显的抑制作用,从而延长移植心存活时间.

Molecular basis of transferrin polymorphism in goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Transferrin (TF) polymorphism was investigated in a color variety of goldfish (Carassius auratus), and its molecular basis analyzed. Three TF variants (A(1), A(2) and B-1) were identified from an inbred strain of the goldfish, of which A(1) and B-1 displayed a large electrophoretic difference on both native and SDS-PAGE gels. The TF cDNAs corresponding to variants A(1) and B-1 were cloned and sequenced from A(1)A(1), A(1)B(1) and B1B1 individuals, and their deduced amino acid sequences were analyzed. Substantial amino acid variation occurred between variants A(1) and B-1, with significant differences in peptide length, theoretical molecular weight (Mw) and isoelectric point (pI). No potential glycosylation sites were observed in the two amino acid sequences, which excluded the possibility that carbohydrate difference might cause electrophoretic variation among the TF variants. Further analysis suggested that the distinct electrophoretic mobility of the two variants A(1) and B-1 by SDS-PAGE resulted from their Mw difference, while the difference by the native PAGE could be explained by their pI variation. Furthermore, genomic DNA fragments containing the transferrin alleles were amplified and subjected to RFLP analysis in A(1)A(1), A(1)B(1) and B1B1 individuals. The data revealed characteristic banding patterns for each TF genotype, and demonstrated that the TF alleles A(1) and B-1 could be used as a co-dominant marker system. The initial work relating to the goldfish TF variants will benefit the understanding of the evolutionary and functional significance of TF polymorphism in fish.

小麦抗白粉病新基因PmCD1和抗条锈病基因YrCD的鉴定及分子标记筛选

本研究对自育小麦白粉病抗源“07鉴126”和条锈病抗源CD1437、CD0534-5进行抗性遗传分析和微卫星引物的筛选，建立了与PmCD1和YrCD抗病基因连锁的SSR分子标记，主要研究结果如下： 1.小麦白粉抗源“07鉴126”抗白粉病基因的鉴定和分子标记的建立 品系“07鉴126”对我国目前白粉菌强优势生理小种E09、E11和其它多种小种表现免疫或高度抵抗。Pm-sus是07鉴126的自然突变感病株。利用“07鉴126”和Pm-sus的F2抗病性分离群体进行抗条锈病性遗传分析和分子标记定位，结果表明，“07鉴126”的白粉抗性为显性单基因控制的全生育期抗性，暂命名为PmCD1；并筛选到了与PmCD1共分离的显性SSR分子标记Xbarc183。系谱分析和分子标记分析表明PmCD1来源于荆州黑麦。抗谱分析表明PmCD1不同于已知的黑麦抗白粉基因，是一个新的抗白粉病基因。Xbarc183这一分子标记的建立为PmCD1的分子标记辅助选择和抗病基因累加提供了方便。 2.小麦条锈抗源CD1437抗条锈病基因的鉴定和分子标记的建立 利用对优势条锈菌小种条中32免疫的小麦品系CD1437及其自然突变感病株Yr-sus杂交构建F2、F3抗病性分离群体。抗条锈病性遗传分析结果显示，1437的抗条锈性为显性单基因控制的全生育期抗性，该基因暂命名为YrCD。SSR分析发现，位于1B染色体上的7个SSR标记Xcfd65、Xgwm11、Xgwm18、Xbarc187、Xwmc406、 Xwmc419、Xwmc216依次分布在YrCD的一侧，与YrCD的遗传距离在1.7 cM至9.2 cM。YrCD和YrCH42的等位性分析显示二者可能为等位基因。YrCD和Yr24、Yr26的抗谱相似。系谱分析和分子标记分析表明贵农20是YrCD的供体。本研究推测YrCD、Yr24、Yr26和YrCH42可能是等位基因，并推测Yr-sus是缺失突变体。 3. 小麦条锈抗源CD0534-5抗条锈病基因的鉴定 利用对条中32免疫的小麦抗条锈病品系CD0534-5及其感病重组自交系CD0534-4建立F2抗病性分离群体。抗条锈病性遗传分析表明，CD0534-5的条锈抗性由两对独立的显性主效基因控制。用BSK法分析，发现其中一对基因与SSR分子标记Xgwm11、Xgwm18、Xwmc128、Xwmc419连锁，该基因是来源于贵农20的YrCD。另一抗性基因来源贵农19，是极有利用价值的未知抗性基因。 This study focused on the investigation and identification of a novel powdery mildew resistant gene PmCD1 in wheat lines 07jian126 and stripe rust resistant gene YrCD in wheat lines CD1482 and CD0534-5, and screened SSR markers tightly linked to them. The main results were as follows: 1.Identification and SSR markers screening of a novel powdery mildew PmCD1 in wheat line 07jian126. Using a Pm resistant wheat line 07jian126 and its Pm susceptible mutant, a F2 population was constructed. Pedigree and genetic analyses indicated that the Pm resistance in 07jian126 was tranderred from rye (Secale cereale L.) cv. Jinzhou and was controlled by a single dominant gene. Differential test using 21 Bgt isolates revealed that the Pm resistant gene in 07jian126 is novel and was temporarily designated as PmCD1. A dominant SSR marker Xbarc183/130 bp was found co-segregated with PmCD1 in the F2 population. The diagnostic band of Xbarc183/130 bp co-segregating with PmCD1 could be used as an ideal marker in marker-assisted-selection during wheat breeding program. 2. Identification and SSR markers mapping of yellow rust resistant gene YrCD in wheat line CD1437. Wheat line CD1437 was highly resistant to predominant Chinese stripe rust race CYR32 at both seedling and adult stages. A F2 population was developed from the cross of CD1437 and its Yr susceptible mutant Yr-sus. Genetic analysis indicated line CD1437 contains a single dominant gene, temporarily designated YrCD. Seven SSR markers on the chromosome 1BS including Xcfd65, Xgwm11, Xgwm18, Xbarc187, wmc406, Xwmc419and Xwmc216 were close linked to YrCD with a genetic dsitance 1.7 cM to 9.2 cM. YrCD came from wheat cultivar Guinong 20. Allelic test of CD1437 and Chinese cultivar Chuanmai 42 indicated that YrCD and YrCH42 were allelic. Reaction patterns of YrCD and Yr24, Yr26 to 21 PST isolates were the same. These results suggested that YrCD and Yr24, Yr26, YrCH42 might be allelic. 3.Detection and identification of yellow rust resistance genes in wheat line CD0534-5 Wheat line CD0534-5 was highly resistant to predominant Chinese stripe rust race CYR32, while its recombinant inbred line CD0534-4 was susceptible. Genetic analysis with a F2 population developed from the cross of CD0534-5 and CD0534-4 indicated line CD0534-5 contains two independent dominant genes. Four SSR markers on the chromosome 1BS including Xgwm11, Xgwm18, Xwmc128, Xwmc419 were found to linked with one gene in CD0534-5. According the locations of makers and pedigree, this gene in CD0534-5 was YrCD, from cultivar Guinong 20. Another resistant gene was from cultivar Guinong 19, different with those genes on 1B such as Yr10, Yr15, Yr5 etc, was a valuable resistant gene in wheat breeding.

水稻同源四倍体高代自交系农艺性状分析及遗传差异研究

课题组在不断地创制新的同源四倍体材料的同时，连续多年以提高结实率为目的培育、筛选自交系材料，已获得自交繁殖十二年的高代自交系材料。相对于诱导创制初期，材料表现出的结实率低，同种系单株间的差异较大；高代材料已表现出较显著的结实率提升和较一致的农艺性状表型。 本实验选取课题组多年培育的同源四倍体水稻高代自交系材料，通过形态学、农艺性状和细胞遗传学比较，研究水稻同源四倍体与二倍体之间的异同。结果显示，所有同源四倍体材料的染色体组成均为2N=4X=48，花粉母细胞(PMC)减数分裂行为较正常，99%以上的染色体都能在减数分裂中期I（MI）发生联会、配对，形成四价体和二价体，这与理论染色体组构成相符。在减数分裂过程中，结实率较高的材料染色体异常现象较少而结实率较低的材料染色体异常现象较严重。统计分析表明，二价体和四价体的比例对结实率没有显著影响，但是三价体的数目对结实率有一定影响。这一结果表明了结实率和细胞减数分裂行为可能存在相关性，同源四倍体的减数分裂行为为筛选高结实率的同源四倍体种系提供了依据。 然后，对同源四倍体水稻高代自交系材料进行农艺性状和品质性状的统计与分析。主要针对结实率、每穗实粒数、有效分蘖和穗长等主要农艺性状，以及直链淀粉含量这一重要的品质性状进行统计。将统计结果与1996年诱导加倍的初代材料的数据相对比分析，结果显示所有材料经过多代选育培养，其农艺性状已经有了较显著的提高，同时同源四倍体材料的农艺性状稳定性也有了较显著的提升。如结实率的提高幅度较大，所有材料的平均结实率均显著高于加倍初代，而同种材料不同单株间的结实率差异也显著地减少，变异系数（CV）的平均值由1996年的41.15%减少到了2008年的28.81%。其他重要农艺性状也有不同程度的改良，种内变异系数也相应地降低。此外，实验测量了同源四倍体材料和来源二倍体材料的直链淀粉含量。分析结果显示，部分材料的直链淀粉含量与二倍体亲本产生了较显著的差异，这可能是诱导加倍过程中的遗传变异造成的；同源四倍体材料的种内变异系数（CV）平均值由1996年的6%下降到了2008年的3.88%，显示出在品质性状方面，同源四倍体材料的遗传稳定性也有较显著的增加。同源四倍体材料农艺性状经过多年的选育，表现出一定的提升，同时，经过多年自交纯化，所有材料种系内的性状差异逐渐缩小，说明同源四倍体水稻的遗传稳定性随着自交纯化而增强，这为同源四倍体水稻的进一步选育打下了良好的基础。 最后，通过测量连续两年的自交系材料的遗传多态性，分析材料间遗传差异和种群遗传结构，深入研究连续两代材料间的遗传差异，研究同源四倍体水稻与二倍体材料遗传稳定性之间的差异。实验采用18对SSR微卫星标记对连续两代15个材料，共94份样本进行差异分析。通过扩增条带长度多态性分析，计算不同材料以及同种材料不同世代间的遗传距离，构建同源四倍体和二倍体水稻的分子指纹库，并绘制聚类图。结果显示，同源四倍体和二倍体不同材料间的遗传差异比较大，遗传距离处于0.4757至0.2816之间；而相同品种不同世代材料间的遗传差异较小，但也表现出一定的遗传差异。同种同源四倍体材料不同世代间的遗传差异比二倍体材料更大，两代四倍体材料间遗传距离处于0.1359至0.0485之间；而两代二倍体材料间的遗传距离处于均小于0.0388。结果表明，同源四倍体水稻高代材料具有一定的遗传稳定性，但与来源二倍体材料相比，其世代间的遗传变异性仍然较强。这种结果说明，经过多代的自交纯化培育，同源四倍体水稻材料能够建立起相对稳定的遗传结构，同时，其强于二倍体亲本的变异性有能够为新品种的选育，农艺性状、品质性状的改良提供一定的遗传基础。此外，分析结果表明通过分子标记辅助检验，水稻材料间的遗传多态性能够有效地区分不同的品种，这为水稻品种的分子鉴定提供了一定的依据。 本研究从细胞学鉴定，农艺性状统计分析以及分子标记辅助聚类分析多方面地对同源四倍体水稻高代系进行了研究，对探究同源四倍体水稻的遗传规律，进一步揭示其遗传特性、农艺性状的遗传构成，为进一步选育优质的多倍体水稻提供了一定的理论依据。 This group insists on creating new Autotetraploid Rice (Oryza sativa L.) materials, while improving the seed-setting of them for many years, cultivated and selected the inbred line materials, has obtained the high generation inbred lines after twelve years cultivation. Compared to the early induced materials, which shown the low seed setting, and the large difference between the different plants in the same germ-line; the high generation materials have shown significant improvement in seed setting and more uniform phenotype agronomic traits. The autotetraploid rice high generation inbred lines material, which has been cultivated for more than 12 years, was chose in this experiment. The similarities and differences between autotetraploid and diploid rice was studied through morphological, agronomic and cytogenetic ways. The results showed that all the chromosome of autotetraploid materials are composed of 2N=4X=48, the pollen mother cells (PMC) meiosis behavior is normal, more than 99% chromosomes in metaphase I(MI) were federated and paired to form tetravalents or bivalents, which constitutes a consistent theory of genome. In the meiosis process, the material with a higher seed setting showed less chromosome abnormal than the material whose seed setting is lower. However, statistical analysis showed that the bivalent and tetravalent rate had no significant impact on seed setting, but the number of trivalent had a certain impact on seed setting. The result shows that the seed setting may be related to the meiosis behavior, which provides a basis to cultivate new autotetraploid germ line with high seed setting through the meiotic behavior. Furthermore, the agronomic and quality traits of autotetraploid rice high generation inbred material were statistically analyzed. The statistically analysis was focused on major agronomic traits such as: seed setting, grains per panicle, effective tillers and panicle length, as well as the important quality trait amylose content. The statistic data was compared with the data in 1996, when the first induced generation of autotetraploid material, and the result shows that after a multi-generation breeding, the agronomic traits has been significantly improved in all the materials, while the stability of agronomic traits also significant upgraded. For instant, the seed setting increased significantly, the average seed setting of all materials was significantly higher than the first induced generation, and the differences between different plants in the same species also significantly reduced, the average of the coefficient of variation (CV) was reduced from 41.15% in 1996 to 28.81% in 2008. Other important agronomic traits had improved in different degrees; the coefficient of variation within species is also reduced accordingly. In addition, the amylose content of autotetraploid and diploid materials was measured in this experiment. The results shows that the amylose content of some of the material differed from diploid parents significantly, it may caused by the genetic change during the inducing, autotetraploid materials intra-specific coefficient of variation (CV) average reduced from 6% in 1996 to 3.88% in 2008, shows that this is a significant increase of quality traits stability in autotetraploid rice. Agronomic traits of autotetraploid material shows some improvement after years of breeding, at the same time, after years of purification, all material within the germ-line gradually narrow the differences in traits indicates that autotetraploid rice genetic stability was enhanced, which laid a good foundation for the further autotetraploid rice breeding. Finally, this experiment studied the genetic differences between materials of two generations and researched the difference of genetic stability between diploid and autotetraploid rice materials through investigating the genetic polymorphism, genetic differences between materials and population genetic structure of inbred line materials of two consecutive years.18 pairs of SSR microsatellite markers for 15 materials of two generations were used in this experiment, and the total of 94 samples were analyzed. Through the amplification length polymorphism analysis of different materials and materials in different generations, the genetic distance between materials and generations was analyzed, a diploid and autotetraploid rice molecular fingerprint database and map rendering cluster were constructed. The result shows that the genetic distance is between 0.4757 to 0.2816 among different autotetraploid and diploid materials; the genetic distance between different generations of same species was less, but also shows a certain degree of genetic differences. The inter-generational genetic differences of autotetraploid materials were greater than of the diploid materials, which are 0.1359 to 0.0485 as the genetic distance; comparing with the 0.0388 of diploid materials. The result shows that high generation inbred autotetraploid rice material has a certain genetic stability, but the genetic variation between generations is still strong comparing with the source diploid materials. It indicates that, after many generations of purification cultivation, autotetraploid rice materials established a relatively stable genetic structure, at the same time, stronger variability than its diploid parents are useful in the breeding of new varieties, provides a genetic foundation to the agronomic and quality traits improvement. In addition, the analysis result shows that the through the molecular marker-assisted testing, rice genetic polymorphism between materials can effectively distinguish different species, provides a certain basis for molecular identification of varieties of rice. A series of investigation such as cytological identification, statistical analysis of agronomic traits, molecular marker-assisted cluster analysis was applied in this experiment to research genetic pattern of autotetraploid rice high generation inbred lines, revealed the genetic characteristics and the genetic composition of agronomic traits, provides a theoretical basis for the further selection of high quality autotetraploid rice.

QTL Mapping for Frond Length and Width in Laminaria japonica Aresch (Laminarales, Phaeophyta) Using AFLP and SSR Markers

In Laminaria japonica Aresch breeding practice, two quantitative traits, frond length (FL) and frond width (FW), are the most important phenotypic selection index. In order to increase the breeding efficiency by integrating phenotypic selection and marker-assisted selection, the first set of QTL controlling the two traits were determined in F-2 family using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Two prominent L. japonicas inbred lines, one with "broad and thin blade" characteristics and another with "long and narrow blade" characteristics, were applied in the hybridization to yield the F-2 mapping population with 92 individuals. A total of 287 AFLP markers and 11 SSR markers were used to construct a L. japonica genetic map. The yielded map was consisted of 28 linkage groups (LG) named LG1 to LG28, spanning 1,811.1 cM with an average interval of 6.7 cM and covering the 82.8% of the estimated genome 2,186.7 cM. While three genome-wide significant QTL were detected on LG1 (two QTL) and LG4 for "FL," explaining in total 42.36% of the phenotypic variance, two QTL were identified on LG3 and LG5 for the trait "FW," accounting for the total of 36.39% of the phenotypic variance. The gene action of these QTL was additive and partially dominant. The yielded linkage map and the detected QTL can provide a tool for further genetic analysis of two traits and be potential for maker-assisted selection in L. japonica breeding.

Comparative growth and viability of hybrids between two populations of Chinese shrimp (Fennropenaeus chinensis)

Fenneropenaeus chinensis is confined to the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in China and the West Coast of the Korean Peninsula. Intra- and intercross populations were produced between Rushany (YP) and Korean (KN) populations. Seven traits were recorded. The heterosis of hybrids was computed and comparison between treatments was performed by ANOVA. At the fourth month after post-larvae, six indexes of growth trait and viability showed a range of heterosis, ranging from 0.514% to 14.950%. At the fifth month after post-larvae, six indexes of growth trait and viability ranged from -9.000% to 19.090%. The negative heterosis was observed in CL, HST and viability. The heterosis of KN female xYP male tended generally to increase as the age of the Chinese shrimp increased while the heterosis of YP female xKN male tended to decrease. The results indicated that the viability of reciprocal hybrids were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from their parents during the experiment. The result of ANOVA indicated that the F1 hybrids were significantly different (P < 0.05) in WST and TW at the fourth month. The multiple comparisons of LSD test indicated that the hybrids of YP female xKN male were significantly different (P < 0.05) from their parents in TW. The hybrids of YP female xKN male were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the other three combinations in WST. At the fifth months, the F1 hybrids had significant difference (P < 0.05) in body weight while other traits showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) from their parents. The multiple comparisons of LSD test indicated that the hybrids of KN female xYP male were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the KN parents in TW. The results indicate that in experimental conditions, the F-1 hybrids created from two populations of Chinese shrimp showed a certain level of heterosis for growth performance and viability. The crossing scheme may improve growth performance and viability in Chinese shrimp, but the improvement may be limited because effective crossbreeding requires the maintenance of pure, preferably inbred, lines and possibly involves specialized sire and dam lines. Therefore, the exploitation of heterosis through single crossbreeding in Chinese shrimp is of limited utility in practical commercial shrimp aquaculture in spite of the potential of significant heterosis. The crossbreeding of different populations can be applied in the establishment of base populations.

Heat-shock protein70 gene expression in four hatchery Pacific Abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino populations using for marker-assisted selection

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are molecular chaperones that help organisms cope with stressful conditions. Here, we report on the growth rates and Hsp70 expressions in inbred and hybrid populations of abalone Haliotis discus hannai Ino. In abalone, inbred populations expressed more Hsp70 than hybrid populations at all temperatures, except at very high temperatures close to the physiological limit. At benign temperatures, there was a clear trend towards higher Hsp70 expression in inbred than hybrid populations, whereas at higher temperatures, a trend in the opposite direction was observed. The temperature of maximal Hsp70 expression (T-peak) varied with the population type. The T-peak of inbred populations (26 degrees C) was lower than that of the hybrid populations (28 degrees C). The maximal inducible Hsp70 of inbred populations was higher than that of hybrid populations. The results showed a trend towards higher expression in inbred population at a lower temperature. These results provide direct experimental evidence that hybrids can cope with the intrinsic stress even at non-stressful temperatures. The constitutive Hsp70 may therefore be used for marker-assisted selection in a breeding programme.

Different responses to selection in two stocks of the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians irradians Lamarck (1819)

Two different stocks (A and B) of the bay scallop Argopecten irradialls irradians (Lamarck, 1819) were used to test mass selection on growth. Stock A was a descending stock from the initial introduction from U.S.A. in 1982, which had been cultured in China for about 20 years. Stock B was the third generation from a recent introduction from U.S.A. in 1999. Truncation selection was conducted by selecting the largest 11% scallops in shell length from Stock A and the largest 12.7% scallops from Stock B as parents for the respective selected groups. Before the removal of parents for truncation selection, equal numbers of scallops were randomly chosen from Stock A and B to serve as parents for the control groups. Offspring from the four groups were reared under the same hatchery, nursery, and grow-out conditions. Values of response to selection and realized heritability at larvae, spat and grow-out stages for Stock B were all significantly (P < 0.001) higher than its counterpart for Stock A. For Stock A, no significant response to selection was observed (P > 0.05) at any stage, and the realized heritability for shell length was 0.015 +/- 0.024 for larvae, 0.040 +/- 0.027 for spat, and 0.080 +/- 0.009 for grow-out, respectively. For Stock B, however, significant (P < 0.05) response to selection was observed, and the realized heritability for shell length was 0.511 +/- 0.010 for larvae, 0.341 +/- 0.022 for spat, and 0.338 +/- 0.015 for grow-out. On average, responses to selection at the three stages for Stock B was 30 x, 7.1 x, and 3 x higher than its counterpart for Stock A, respectively. Accordingly, realized heritability at above stages for Stock B was 33 X, 7.5 x, and 3.2 X higher than its counterpart for Stock A, respectively. Differences in response to selection and realized heritability between the two stocks are presumably due to differences in genetic variability. As the 20th generation from the initial introduction consisted of only 26 scallops, Stock A is known to be highly inbred, while inbreeding in Stock B is negligible. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sustained response to selection in an introduced population of the hermaphroditic bay scallop Argopecten irradians irradians Lamarck (1819)

Introduced species often start with limited genetic variability, which is problematic for selective breeding. The problem of inbreeding can be exasperated by hermaphroditism. The bay scallop Argopecten irradians irradians is a hermaphroditic species that has been introduced to and now supports a major aquaculture industry in China. Positive response to selection for fast growth was observed in one of the less inbred stocks in a previous study. In this study, we evaluated selection for the second generation to determine if response to selection can be sustained in this introduced population of a hermaphroditic species. Response to selection, realized heritability for the second generation, cumulative (over two generations), current (for the second generation) and residual (from the first generation) genetic gains were estimated by comparing three different types of lines: SS (selected for two generation), SC (selected for the first generation only) and CC (unselected for two generations). The SS line grew significantly faster (P < 0.05) than the other two lines, indicating that the second generation selection for faster growth is still effective. Response to selection and realized heritability for the second generation were 0.612 +/- 0.101 and 0.349 +/- 0.057, respectively, which are similar to those observed for the first generation. The cumulative, current, and residual gains were 17.56 +/- 5.30%, 10.63 +/- 2.46%, and 6.25 +/- 3.13%, respectively. The sustained response to selection for the second generation observed here suggests that considerable genetic variability exists in this population and that future efforts on selective breeding are likely to be fruitful. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.