Abstract
Growth traits, largely determined by muscle growth, are the most critical economic traits in shrimp breeding. Myostatin (Mstn) is a conserved inhibitor of muscle growth in vertebrates, but until now solid evidence supporting a similar function of Mstn in invertebrates has been lacking. In the present study, we examined the Mstn expression along with growth trait data in a Fenneropenaeus chinensis population, to establish a potential correlation between Mstn and growth. The heritabilities of FcMstn expression, body weight at 190 days of culture, body weight and length at 230 days of culture, and average daily gain were estimated using 773 individuals and a thirteen-generation pedigree. The results showed FcMstn expression was negatively correlated with the growth traits, and the mean FcMstn expression in females was significantly lower than that of males, indicating Mstn negatively regulates muscle growth in shrimp, and its lower expression may underscore the faster growth of females. Low heritabilities were detected for FcMstn expression, suggesting that the expression of Mstn might be heritable in shrimp. These results provide strong support for a growth inhibitory function of Mstn in F. chinensis, and suggest a potential method for selective breeding of this species without substantial experimental resources and labor force.
Highlights
Shrimp is an important aquaculture species with high single output values, which takes a great role in the economic development of the world
The variance was higher when analyzed at the individual level than the family level as indicated by the higher standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) for all the traits (Table 1)
According to the classification reported by Cardellino and Rovira[30], the F. chinensis Mstn (FcMstn) expression have low heritabilities (0.05 ± 0.03, 0.06 ± 0.06, and 0.08 ± 0.06, respectively) at all-individual, female-individual, and male-individual levels; the heritability estimates of BW1 (0.75 ± 0.14) and BW2 (0.66 ± 0.13) in females were very high; the heritability of BL2 (0.59 ± 0.13) in females was high; the heritability estimates of BW1 (0.35 ± 0.09), BW2 (0.34 ± 0.09), BL2 (0.22 ± 0.07), and average daily gain (ADG) (0.22 ± 0.08) in all individuals, and BW1 (0.25 ± 0.09), BW2 (0.26 ± 0.10), and ADG (0.44 ± 0.11) in males were medium
Summary
Shrimp is an important aquaculture species with high single output values, which takes a great role in the economic development of the world. The family-based selective breeding programs have improved the target traits a lot and made great contributions to the development of shrimp industry[4,5,6]. Robinson et al.[10] suggested to use the gene expression profiles with larger sample sizes as an indirect parameter for the target traits as an alternative method for selective breeding. Our group has initiated a selective breeding program for F. chinensis in 2004 using the family-based selection method to increase production[6]. The deep pedigree enables a high level of genetic tie among the families and individuals This shrimp population provided ideal materials for heritability estimate of gene expression. Until now solid evidence supporting a similar function of Mstn has been lacking in invertebrates
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