Variation at enzyme coding loci and correlates of fitness in rainbow trout: a cohort analysis

Abstract

An association between heterozygosity at six to nine enzyme coding loci and correlates of fitness (survival, age at first maturation) was tested in two cohorts of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss reared in the laboratory. A subsample offish from the first cohort was reared together for 3 years. There, fish sampled as embryos, juveniles and adults did not differ significantly in multilocus heterozygosity (MLH, numbers of heterozygous loci per fish). However, fish that died during a period of high natural mortality had significantly greater MLH than those sampled before as hatched embryos and later as adults. The number of homozygotes and heterozygotes at three loci differed significantly among different aged fish but in different directions. Allele counts at two of these loci also differed among samples. In a second cohort, the heterozygosity of fish that died during the period of high natural mortality was compared with that of healthy fish collected at the same time; no significant differences in MLH or allele frequencies were detected. Taken together, the lower MLH of the natural mortalities as well as single locus effects observed in the first cohort might be explained by the differential survival of fish with particular genotypes leading to changes in heterozygosity of the entire cohort over time rather than heterozygosity per se. Age of first maturation and heterozygosity (MLH and single locus) were not associated in males but were marginally so in females. Time of ovulation within the spawning season was not associated with the MLH of females.