Abstract
Testes of the tiger pufferfish Takifugu rubripes are a delicacy in Japan, and selective breeding for a male precocious phenotype, i.e., with early initiation of testes development, is desirable. However, it is unknown if precocious gonad development in this species is under genetic control. Here, we investigated genetic involvement in precociousness by using progeny tests with sires from two cultured populations, including a family line anecdotally known for its precociousness, and a wild population. Progeny derived from the “precocious” line consistently had greater testes weight than that from the other lines, even after accounting for effects of body weight, which indicates that precociousness is truly heritable. We also compared chronological changes in plasma steroid hormones between progenies sired by males from the precocious line and a wild population, and found that the precocious family line had higher levels of plasma estradiol-17β (E2) prior to the initiation of testicular development. Our findings suggest that selective breeding for testes precociousness in the tiger pufferfish is feasible, and that plasma E2 may be an indicator of this phenotype, which would allow for phenotype evaluation without the need to sacrifice specimens.
Highlights
The tiger pufferfish Takifugu rubripes is one of the most valuable aquaculture fish species in Japan (Hamasaki et al 2017)
Using generalized linear model (GLM) analysis, we examined paternal effects in tests 1 and 2 on testes weight (TW) using half-sib families, descendants of sires derived from line A, line B and wild populations
We investigated whether the precociousness, i.e., early initiation of testes enlargement, seen in a family line of the tiger pufferfish is genetically linked
Summary
The tiger pufferfish Takifugu rubripes is one of the most valuable aquaculture fish species in Japan (Hamasaki et al 2017). In Nagasaki Prefecture, which produced the greatest yield of cultured tiger pufferfish (accounting for 53.8% of total production) in 2017 (MAFF, Japan), there is a precocious family line (line A) favored by the market. This line is recognized as one of the three major lines in production, due to its higher economic value It is not known if the precociousness trait is truly heritable. If this precociousness were genetic in origin, this phenotype would be a valuable target for future aquaculture improvement, selective breeding of this species is still in its infancy (Hosoya et al 2014).
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