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Correlated changes in body shape after five generations of selection to improve growth rate in a breeding program for Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in Brazil

  • Animal Genetics • Review
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Abstract

Body shape is a commercial trait of great interest as it impacts profit and productivity of aquaculture enterprises. In the present study, we examined correlated changes in two measures of body shape (depth to length ratio, DL-R and ellipticity of mid sagittal plane, EL-H) from a selection program for high daily weight gain in a Nile tilapia population reared in freshwater cages in Brazil. Genetic parameters for body shape and its genetic association with growth traits (body weight and daily gain) were also estimated from 8,725 individuals with growth performance recorded over five generations from 2008 to 2013. Mixed model analysis showed that the selection program resulted in substantial improvement in growth performance (about 4 % genetic gain per generation or per year) and also brought about trivial changes in body shape. The heritabilities ranged from 0.470 to 0.564 for growth traits and 0.180 to 0.289 for body shape. The common family effects were low for all traits studied, accounting for only 3–11 % of total phenotypic variance. The genetic correlations between body shape and growth traits were weak, i.e., −0.385 between EL-H and growth traits and 0.28 between DL-R and body weight or daily gain. Strong and negative genetic association was found between the two body shape traits (rg = -−0.955). Harvest body weight and daily gain are essentially the same traits, as indicated by the close to one genetic correlations between the two characters. Our results demonstrated that the selection process to increase growth rate had small, but slowly constant effect in body shape traits; and in the long term, the fish would have become rotund.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq) and Ministério de Pesca e Aquicultura, Brazil (MPA). Peixegen Research Group provided the data set. We extend our thanks to the University of the Sunshine Coast for hosting the sabbatical of Prof Carlos Antonio Lopes de Oliveira from January to August 2015, and to Professors Wayne Knibb and Richard Burns who helped to review language of the draft manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo, 5790, Jardim Universitário, 87020-900, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil

    Carlos Antonio Lopes de Oliveira & Ricardo Pereira Ribeiro

  2. Universidade Estadual Júlio Mesquita Filho - FCAV/Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

    Grazyella Massako Yoshida

  3. Aquaamerica Company, Rodovia BR 491 — km 158 Fazenda Porto, 37130-000, Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Natali Miwa Kunita & Gabriel Soriani Rizzato

  4. Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Caixa Postal - 533, 79.804-970, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

    Sheila Nogueira de Oliveira

  5. Universidade Federal da Bahia, Escola de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Avenida Adhemar de Barros, Ondina, 40170-110, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Alexandra Inês dos Santos

  6. The University of the Sunshine Coast, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia

    Nguyen Hong Nguyen

Authors
  1. Carlos Antonio Lopes de Oliveira
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  2. Ricardo Pereira Ribeiro
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  3. Grazyella Massako Yoshida
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  4. Natali Miwa Kunita
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  5. Gabriel Soriani Rizzato
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  6. Sheila Nogueira de Oliveira
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  7. Alexandra Inês dos Santos
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  8. Nguyen Hong Nguyen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlos Antonio Lopes de Oliveira.

Additional information

Communicated by: Maciej Szydlowski

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de Oliveira, C.A.L., Ribeiro, R.P., Yoshida, G.M. et al. Correlated changes in body shape after five generations of selection to improve growth rate in a breeding program for Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in Brazil. J Appl Genetics 57, 487–493 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-016-0338-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-016-0338-5

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