Selection of two strains of rainbow trout diverging in muscle-fat content

Scientific leaders: Edwige Quillet (GenAqua) Jérôme Bugeon (LPGP)
Technical leaders: Lionel Goardon, Thierry Kerneis, Fréderic Lancelot
Contact : Edwige Quillet

Start date: 1995      Planned duration: 20 years

INRA research unit partners

• INRA - GA : GABI-GenAqua (Jouy-en-Josas)
• INRA - PHASE: PEIMA: Maintenance of two strains of the project (lean muscle and fatty muscle) and measurement of response to selection
• INRA - PHASE: LPGP: Measurement of flesh-quality parameters
• INRA - PHASE: NuMeA: Nutritional (ingestion, feed efficiency) and metabolic description

Access conditions: Strain available in the framework of scientific collaborations with the INRA research units GABI and LPGP on a case-by-case basis (material transfer agreement (MTA) regarding the use of animals and derived tissues or cells).

Objectives

• Test the feasibility and effectiveness of divergent field selection for the fat content of fish flesh.
• Describe responses in main animal production characteristics (direct and correlated responses).
• Create divergent strains to identify the genetic basis and physiological and metabolic mechanisms associated with the muscular phenotype.

Experimental design

• Two rainbow trout strains diverging in muscle-fat content developed from INRA spring-reproducing broodstock.
• For each strain: maintenance of a control strain and establishment of two selected strains (selection pressure of a few per cent each generation, non-invasive measurement of muscle-fat content with a fat meter on animals of portion size). The strains currently represent 9 generations of selection.

Resources used

• Fish-farm personnel with the scientific support of the GenAqua team and LPGP.
• Production in standard structures of the fish farm up to one year for each strain, followed by selection for muscle-fat content after correction for size. Use of a fat meter.