Comparative linkage analysis of North American and European Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and detection of quantitative trait loci for body weight and condition factor

• Main Author: Reid, Darrin P.
• Other Authors: Danzmann, R.G., Ferguson, Moira M.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Guelph 2003
• Subjects: North American Atlantic salmon; European Atlantic salmon; linkage analysis; trait loci; body weight; Arctic charr; Arctic; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar; Salvelinus alpinus
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10214/24558

I constructed genetic linkage maps for North American (NA: New Brunswick) Atlantic salmon ('Salmo salar') and compared them to those of European fish (EU: Scotland). I used 91 microsatellite loci on 16 linkage groups to compare marker arrangement in three NA full-sib families. The NA fish showed greater recombination rates between markers compared to the EU fish. Two potential rearrangements on linkage groups AS-8 and AS-17 were identified in the NA fish. Three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) for body weight (AS-8, AS-10, AS-11) and two significant QTL for condition factor (AS-4, AS-14) were identified and accounted for between 7.5% and 28.6% of the trait variation. Two of the significant QTL for body weight occur on linkage groups where similar effects have been detected on the homologous regions in rainbow trout ('Oncorhynchus mykiss') and Arctic charr ('Salvelinus alpinus').