Genetic structure and within-generation genome scan analysis of fisheries-induced evolution in a Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) population

• Published in: Conservation Genetics
• Main Authors: Chebib, Jobran, Bernatchez, Louis, Renaut, Sébastien, Rogers, Sean Michael
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Link 2016
• Subjects: Grand corégone > Génétique; Séquence nucléotidique; Canada; Lesser Slave lake; Slave Lake; Esclave*
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/366; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0797-y; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2853541/

Size-selective harvest may lead to over-exploitation of commercial fisheries, but the population genetic and evolutionary consequences of such practices remain poorly understood. We investigated the role of within-generation selection in a historically over-exploited Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) population associated with fisheries-induced evolution in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. DNA from archived scales of Lake Whitefish collected between 1986 and 1999 were genotyped at 20 microsatellites and 51 gene-coding SNPs associated with growth and reproduction. We found that the Lake Whitefish in Lesser Slave Lake consisted of a single genetic stock, with microsatellites revealing more temporal than spatial variation in allele frequencies. A comparative genome scan among replicate cohorts from commercially harvested versus random survey samples identified one candidate SNP under divergent selection. This SNP localized within a gene encoding nucleoside diphosphate kinase A, a protein associated with differential growth. Collectively, the results highlight the utility of within-generation genome scans towards investigating the evolutionary consequences of harvest in the wild. Keywords : Coregonus, Lake Whitefish, SNP, Archived DNA, Historical DNA, Fisheries-induced evolution, Within-generation selection