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Mapping QTL for Omega-3 Content in Hybrid Saline Tilapia

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Abstract

Tilapia is one of most important foodfish species. The low omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio in freshwater tilapia meat is disadvantageous for human health. Increasing omega-3 content is an important task in breeding to increase the nutritional value of tilapia. However, conventional breeding to increase omega-3 content is difficult and slow. To accelerate the increase of omega-3 through marker-assisted selection (MAS), we conducted QTL mapping for fatty acid contents and profiles in a F2 family of saline tilapia generated by crossing red tilapia and Mozambique tilapia. The total omega-3 content in F2 hybrid tilapia was 2.5 ± 1.0 mg/g, higher than that (2.00 mg/g) in freshwater tilapia. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) technology was used to discover and genotype SNP markers, and microsatellites were also genotyped. We constructed a linkage map with 784 markers (151 microsatellites and 633 SNPs). The linkage map was 2076.7 cM long and consisted of 22 linkage groups. Significant and suggestive QTL for total lipid content were mapped on six linkage groups (LG3, -4, -6, -8, -13, and -15) and explained 5.8–8.3% of the phenotypic variance. QTL for omega-3 fatty acids were located on four LGs (LG11, -18, -19, and -20) and explained 5.0 to 7.5% of the phenotypic variance. Our data suggest that the total lipid and omega-3 fatty acid content were determined by multiple genes in tilapia. The markers flanking the QTL for omega-3 fatty acids can be used in MAS to accelerate the genetic improvements of these traits in salt-tolerant tilapia.

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Fig. 1: QTL for omega-3 fatty acids, ALA, EPA, and DHA detected on LG18 in salt-tolerant tilapia.

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Acknowledgements

Professor Valerie C. L. Lin is deeply appreciated for her support with this project that is part of Grace Lin’s PhD thesis. We thank our colleague Mr. Baoqing Ye for English editing of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, under its Competitive Research Program (CRP Award No. NRF-CRP7-2010-01)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604, Singapore

    Grace Lin, Le Wang, Si Te Ngoh, Lianghui Ji, Laszlo Orbán & Gen Hua Yue

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore

    Grace Lin & Gen Hua Yue

  3. Department of Animal Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, Keszthely, H-8360, Hungary

    Laszlo Orbán

  4. Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia

    Laszlo Orbán

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore

    Gen Hua Yue

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  1. Grace Lin
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  2. Le Wang
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  3. Si Te Ngoh
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Correspondence to Laszlo Orbán or Gen Hua Yue.

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Lin, G., Wang, L., Ngoh, S.T. et al. Mapping QTL for Omega-3 Content in Hybrid Saline Tilapia. Mar Biotechnol 20, 10–19 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-017-9783-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-017-9783-3

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