Improved upper thermal tolerance in rainbow trout

水产养殖被认为是一个日益增长的就业来源，为工业替代品有限的社区提供了改善社会和经济的可能性。 安大略是加拿大供人类消费的虹鳟鱼的主要产地。幼鳟鱼（称为种鱼）由成年繁殖者（亲鱼）生产，并在陆基孵化场饲养数月。 然后，它们被运送到乔治亚湾和休伦湖北海峡的笼子里，在那里它们在夏天生长并收获。尽管市场需求和消费者对安大略鳟鱼的接受度非常强劲，但养殖鱼类产品的进口主导了市场。 安大略的主要原种生产商（林登鱼类孵化公司，新邓迪，安大略）不能满足在笼子里生长的原种的需求。 加拿大鳟鱼养殖业的发展受到夏季气温不断升高的限制，这些鱼在笼子里暴露在温度下。 水温升高会导致压力，因此鱼在四周或更长时间内不会进食和生长-鱼片产量可减少25%。 我们提出的研究将使用两个相互关联的策略，加快适合在较高水温下养殖的虹鳟鱼的开发和可用性。 首先，我们将确定与热应激耐受性增加相关的遗传标记。 这将促进林登虹鳟亲鱼的遗传改良，从而提高安大略产业的生产力。 其次，我们将探索一种新的方法，在这种方法中，幼鱼被预先适应温和的热应激，并测试它们是否能够在年老时抵抗应激。该项目涉及来自加拿大两所大学和两个支助组织的团体。 这一协调一致的努力是应用先进生物技术提高加拿大资源型产业之一，即水产养殖业能力的一个例子。

Aquaculture is recognized as a growing source of employment and offers the possibility for social and economic improvements in communities with limited industrial alternatives. Ontario is the major Canadian producer of rainbow trout for human consumption. Young trout (called seedstock) are produced from adult breeders (broodstock) and reared for several months in land-based hatcheries. They are then transported to cages in Georgian Bay and the North Channel of Lake Huron where they are grown over the summer and harvested. Even though market demand and consumer acceptability for Ontario trout is very strong, imports of farmed fish products dominate the marketplace. The major producer of seedstock in Ontario (Lyndon Fish Hatcheries Inc., New Dundee, Ontario) is unable to meet the demand for seedstock to be grown in cages. The development of Canadian trout aquaculture is limited by the ever increasing summer temperatures that the fish are being exposed to in the cages. Increased water temperatures lead to stress and as a result the fish do not feed and grow for four weeks or more - fillet yield can be reduced by up to 25%. Our proposed research will use two inter-related strategies expedite the development and availability of rainbow trout that are suited to culture at higher water temperatures. First, we will identify genetic markers that are associated with increased tolerance to thermal stress. This will facilitate the genetic improvement of the Lyndon rainbow trout broodstock and thus increase productivity of the Ontario industry. Second, we will explore a novel approach where young fish are pre-conditioned to mild thermal stress and test whether they are able to resist stress when they are older. This project involves groups from two Canadian universities and two supporting organizations. This concerted effort is an example of an advanced biotechnology being applied to enhance the capability of one of Canada's resource based industries, namely aquaculture.