Breeding new strains of tilapia: development of an artificial center of origin and linkage map based on AFLP and microsatellite loci

Based on ideas from plant breeding and the opportunities offered by molecular biology, a program was initiated in 1995 to derive genetically superior tilapia from a synthetic stock Ž . artificial center of origin, ACO produced by inter-crossing five groups of fish: Oreochromis w Ž . Ž . x Ž . Ž . niloticus wild-type On and red ROn strains , O. aureus Oa , O. mossambicus Om , and Ž . Ž . Ž . Sarotherodon galilaeus Sg . Three-way cross families 3WC and four-way cross families 4WC have been produced, so that all four species are represented in the ACO. A genomic map has been Ž . created for each of the parents in an Om= Oa=ROn family using microsatellite and AFLP ) Corresponding author. Tel.: q1-530-752-6351; fax: q1-530-752-0175. Ž . E-mail address: [email protected] J.J. Agresti . 0044-8486r00r$ see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S0044-8486 99 00335-X ( ) J.J. Agresti et al.rAquaculture 185 2000 43–56 44 Ž . Ž . amplified fragment length polymorphism DNA markers. The female Om parent had a total of Ž . Ž 78 segregating markers 17 microsatellites, 61 AFLPs . Of these, 62 13 microsatellites, 49 . Ž . AFLPs were linked in 14 linkage groups covering a total of 514 centimorgans cM . The first Ž . Ž generation F hybrid male parent had a total of 229 segregating markers 62 microsatellites, 167 1 . Ž . AFLPs , of which 214 60 microsatellites, 154 AFLPs were linked in 24 linkage groups covering a total of 1632 cM. The construction of these maps is a key step in a molecular marker-assisted Ž . breeding program to detect quantitative trait loci QTL for cold and salinity tolerance and carcass quality in tilapia. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.