Genetic Variation in Disease Resistance and Growth of Chinook, Coho, and Chum Salmon with Respect to Vibriosis, Furunculosis, and Bacterial Kidney Disease

Abstract

Abstract We examined genetic variation in mortality, mean time to death, and (for chinook salmon) weight for one population each of chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, coho salmon O. kisutch, and chum salmon O. keta in British Columbia. In each of the three populations examined, 15 males were mated to 30 females in a nested breeding design. The progeny from each family were divided into groups, and each group was challenged with one of four pathogens: Vibrio anguillarum or V. ordalii, both of which cause vibriosis; Aeromonas salmonicida, which causes furunculosis; and Renibacterium salmoninarum, which causes bacterial kidney disease. When all three salmon species were considered as a group, heritabilities of mortality (sire component, binary character) were low – less than 0.15 for the Vibrio species and A. salmonicida challenges, and less than 0.05 for the R. salmoninarum challenge. Heritabilities of time to death were also low. Family mortality rates in the Vibrio species and A. salmonicida challen...