Genome-Wide Association of Survival in Acoustically Tagged Steelhead Smolts in Puget Sound, Washington

Placeholder Abstract:

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) use genome scans to document a relationship between a phenotype (e.g., survival) and a genotype (e.g., blocks of linked SNPs or genes), based on population samples.  GWAS are used in a wide variety of studies ranging from understanding diseases in humans, improving the agricultural production of domestic animals and plants, to documenting specific behaviors or morphology in wild animals.  In salmonids, GWAS have been used, for example, to gain a better understanding of developmental rates and migratory behavior in steelhead/rainbow trout, and disease resistance in Atlantic salmon.  In this study, we investigated if there is an association between genomic signatures in steelhead smolt and their survival while out-migrating through Puget Sound.  Steelhead smolts were implanted with acoustic transmitters, and we defined survival as a fish’s detection at either the Admiralty Inlet or Strait of Juan de Fuca (JDF) acoustic detection array.  We genotyped fish classified as survivor or non-survivor using restriction-site associated DNA (RAD) sequences (RAD-seq).  To date we have RAD sequenced at total of 285 smolts from Hood Canal and Puget Sound (smolt migration years 2006-2010, 2014), 149 non-survivors, 49 survivors to the Admiralty array only, and 87 survivors to the JDF array.