Genetic parameters of caviar yield, color, size and firmness using parentage assignment in an octoploid fish species, the Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii

• Published in: Aquaculture
• Main Authors: Bestin, Anastasia, Brunel, Olivier, Malledant, Arnaud, Debeuf, Bastien, Benoit, Philippe, Mahla, Rachid, Chapuis, Herve, Guéméné, D., Vandeputte, Marc, Haffray, Pierrick
• Other Authors: Syndicat des Sélectionneurs Avicoles et Aquacoles Français (SYSAAF), SCEA Sturgeon, Laboratoire d'Analyse Génétique pour les Espèces Animales (LABOGENA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Génétique Physiologie et Systèmes d'Elevage (GenPhySE ), Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-École nationale supérieure agronomique de Toulouse ENSAT -Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Biologie des Oiseaux et Aviculture (BOA), Université de Tours (UT)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), MARine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (UMR MARBEC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative (GABI), AgroParisTech-Université Paris-Saclay-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), FranceAgriMer (National Institute for agri-cultural and sea products) Project KViar (contract n◦2014-0827) and to Bureau des Ressources Génétiques (project APACHE contract n◦2009-1549
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: heritability; polyploidy; egg production; selective breeding; [SDV.GEN.GA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics/Animal genetics; Acipenser baerii; Siberian sturgeon
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03198203; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.736725

International audience Aquaculture is presently the only sustainable way of enhancing sturgeon caviar production as the use of wild stocks is banned throughout the world. Hence sustainable management and efficient genetic improvement of domesticated populations are major challenges for the development of farmed caviar. We estimated genetic parameters of caviar yields and quality traits (size, color and firmness) in the polyploid Siberian sturgeon A. baerii, one of the major sturgeon species farmed for meat and caviar worldwide. This study was performed in commercial breeding conditions, where two factorial mating plans were created to produce 77 families. Larvae were pooled at hatching and reared in common environment until the age of caviar production. We phenotyped 494 females, which were successfully assigned to their parents with microsatellite markers using a newly developed software, designed to manage genotypes with varying ploidy levels, up to 8 N. The genetic parameters were estimated using heteroscedastic multi-trait BLUP animal models. Heritability of body weight, ovary weight, caviar weight, caviar (egg) size, caviar yield, caviar firmness and caviar color were moderate to high (0.13 to 0.66) depending on the trait. Moderate negative genetic correlations were estimated between growth and caviar yields (−0.28 to −0.37) while genetic correlations between caviar (egg) size and caviar yield were more negative (−0.70 to −0.76). These results provide favorable grounds to improve the efficiency of farmed caviar production by selective breeding.