Genetic markers for flesh quality in farmed fish

遗传标记在家畜育种中被广泛应用，以选择具有优良生产性状的动物，如肉类品质。水产养殖业是一个全球增长的行业，养殖的三文鱼现在是英国主要的食品出口产品。与传统家畜相比，鱼类物种相对未被驯化，利用遗传标记培育优良品种用于养殖还处于初级阶段。这一后续资助项目的目的是加强大西洋鲑鱼单核苷酸多态标记的专利申请，这些标记被发现与优质鱼片产量和肉质改善显著相关。为了对标记进行商业验证，需要对更大的鱼类种群进行研究，并研究已知谱系家庭中遗传多态与质量特征之间的联系。该项目还将筛选用于提高肉质的其他遗传标记的管道，并将该方法扩展到其他养殖鱼类物种。

Genetic markers are widely used in livestock breeding programs to select animals with superior production traits, e.g. meat quality. Fish aquaculture is a global growth industry with farmed salmon now a major UK food export. Compared with traditional livestock, fish species are relatively undomesticated and the use of genetic markers to produce superior strains for farming is in its infancy. The aim of this follow-on funding project is to strengthen a patent application for single nucleotide polymorphisms markers in Atlantic salmon that were found to be significantly associated with superior fillet yield and improved flesh quality. Studies with larger populations of fish and of the association between the genetic polymorphisms and quality traits in families of known pedigree are required for the commercial validation of the markers. The project will also screen a pipeline of other genetic markers for enhanced flesh quality and extend the approach to other farmed fish species.