Association between the Regulatory Locus PGM-1r * and Life-history Types of Juvenile Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo salar )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Pollard, Susan M., Danzmann, Roy G., Claytor, Ross R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1994
• Subjects: Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Western Arm; Western Arm Brook; Atlantic salmon; Newfoundland; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f94-131; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f94-131

We sampled three juvenile life-history types of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from Western Arm Brook, Newfoundland, to test whether a regulatory gene variant PGM-1r*b is associated with accelerated life-history development. Seven nonmigratory parr populations from the Miramichi River, New Brunswick, and the Margaree River, Nova Scotia, were also sampled. Previous studies with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) indicate that the liver-specific regulatory gene variant PGM-1r*b is associated with faster embryonic and life-history development. We found no association between variation at PGM-1r* and body weight, fork length, gonadal development, and smolt age. However, the frequency of PGM-1r* was significantly higher in males than in females for combined life-history types from Western Arm Brook. These results suggest that PGM-1r* is sex linked or under strong sex-specific selection in this population. Furthermore, populations with higher frequencies of PGM-1r*b tended to have higher frequencies of precocious maturation in males.