Using a genomic approach to explain how Redfish populations differ genetically

Description

Identifying Redfish stocks which have a diverse ability to adapt to their environment is important for predicting future directions of the stocks, setting conservation priorities, and enabling better long-term management practices. Over the last fifteen years, neutral genetic markers, or those portions of DNA that give no indication of the species ability to adapt, provided a useful tool for defining different redfish species and for stock structure definition within those species at various geographical scales in the Northwest Atlantic. However, recent studies have indicated that redfish populations display patterns of genetic differentiation which suggests that the ability to adapt (adaptive selection) plays a key role in shaping population structure in the Northwest Atlantic. The goal of this project is to identify those adaptive components that help to structure and maintain redfish genetic diversity in Atlantic Canada, while addressing knowledge gaps in redfish population structure.

This project is using a genomic approach of restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to discover and define thousands of genetic markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) throughout the redfish genome. This genomic approach provides two major advantages over the traditional markers used in Redfish population studies. First, SNPs are not necessarily neutral, and therefore allow for a more accurate measure of the level of adaptive variation. Second, the huge increase of genetic locations that will be defined provides researchers much more resolving power to detect differences among populations.

Scientific title for this project:

Integrating neutral and adaptive genetic information for addressing knowledge gap in Redfish (Sebastes sp) population structure and its underlying mechanisms in Atlantic Canada: a genomic genotyping-by-sequencing approach of SNPs polymorphism

Program Name

Genomics Research and Development Initiative (GRDI)

Year(s)

2014 - 2017

Principal Investigator(s)

Yvan Lambert
lead

Rick Rideout

Don Power

Éric Parent

Jean-Marie Sévigny
Fisheries and Oceans Canada