The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Honggang Zhao, Wilawan Thongda, Eric Peatman – Auburn University; Adam Fuller, Jason Abernethy – USDA-ARS; Harry K. Dupree, Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center; Benjamin Beck, USDA-ARS Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit
ABSTRACT: White bass, striped bass, and their interspecific hybrid are important game fishes, while the hybrid striped bass is additionally an important aquaculture species in the United States. Numerous state, federal, and private hatcheries, therefore, rear these species for stocking as well as food fish growout. While striped bass populations (both wild and domestic) have been extensively evaluated, relatively little effort has been directed toward the study and improvement of white bass. Genetic markers are critical for evaluating population diversity, detecting inbreeding, differentiating unknown individuals by population origin, and, ultimately, selecting for performance traits. In this study, we examined genetic relationships between a domestic white bass line and five wild populations collected from drainages in Arkansas, Texas, and Alabama. A cost-effective genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) method was carried out for in-depth genetic analysis, generating 13,872 genome-wide SNP loci represented across six populations. Stringent filtering of SNP-calling parameters indicated 426 highly informative SNP loci. Population genetic and structure analyses using these loci revealed moderate genetic differentiation between domestic and wild populations (Fst > 0.086) but six clear population clusters. A final set of 57 SNPs was selected for assay design and validation using 96 additional samples. The developed SNP panels could clearly discriminate between domestic stocks and wild-sourced individuals. This study demonstrated the utility of GBS techniques for SNP discovery and the relatively small number of SNPs needed for inference of population structure in white bass. The SNP resources developed in this study should facilitate breeding, genetic tagging, and conservation of white bass.
