Gonadal alterations in male whitefish Coregonus fatioi: no evidence for genetic damage reducing viability in early life stages

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

Thomas Wahli¹  David Bittner¹  Daniel Bernet¹  Davnah Urbach¹  Alain Jacob¹  Nigel G. Yoccoz¹  Adrian Britschgi¹  Claus Wedekind¹ 

关键词: Gonadal alterations;    Genetic quality;    Embryo survival;    Whitefish;    Lake Thun;   

DOI  :  10.3354/dao01952

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Inter-Research

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT: In recent years, numerous cases of morphological gonadal alterations in fish have been recorded throughout the world and across a wide range of species. In the whitefish Coregonus fatioi from the pre-alpine Lake Thun (Switzerland), the frequency of gonadal alterations is particularly high and the variety of alteration types large. Little is known about the proximal causes and the direct consequences of these morphological features on population persistence. In particular, the potential for the observed alterations to be the phenotypic expression of reduced genetic quality has not yet been addressed. In this study, we used offspring survival during embryogenesis as a proximate indicator of male genetic quality and tested whether the presence of gonadal alterations in males is an indicator of reduced quality. Embryos resulted from in vitro fertilizations of gametes from 126 males and females. We found no significant correlation between embryo survival and gonadal alteration in adults. Our findings suggest that in C. fatioi of Lake Thun, alterations in gonad morphology are not a phenotypic expression of variation in genetic quality.

【 授权许可】

Unknown