Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) age at maturity is strongly affected by temperature, population and age-at-maturity genotype

Age at maturity can vary dramatically within some species. We show that, when raised in controlled conditions, Atlantic salmon age at maturity is affected greatly by temperature as well as a recently discovered age-at-maturity gene. The influence of temperature on age at maturity differed between two populations, but the effect of the age-at-maturity gene was similar in both temperatures and populations. Age at maturity is a key life history trait involving a trade-off between survival risk and reproductive investment, and is an important factor for population structures. In ectotherms, a warming environment may have a dramatic influence on development and life history, but this influence may differ between populations. While an increasing number of studies have examined population-dependent reactions with temperature, few have investigated this in the context of maturation timing. Atlantic salmon, a species of high conservation relevance, is a good study species for this topic as it displays considerable variation in age at maturity, of which a large proportion has been associated with a genomic region including the strong candidate gene vgll3. Until now, the effect of this gene in the context of different environments and populations has not been studied. Using a large-scale common-garden experiment, we find strong effects of temperature, population-of-origin, and vgll3 genotype on maturation in 2-year-old male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). With a temperature difference of 1.8 degrees C, maturation probability was 4.8 times higher in the warm treatment than the cold treatment. This temperature effect was population-specific and was higher in the southern (60.48 degrees N) compared to the northern (65.01 degrees N) population. The early maturation vgll3*E allele was associated with a significantly higher maturation probability, but there was no vgll3 interaction with temperature or population. Both body condition and body mass associated with maturation. The body mass association was only present in the warm treatment. Our findings demonstrate that (i) populations can vary in their response to temperature change in terms of age at maturity, (ii) high intrinsic growth could be associated with higher thermal sensitivity for life history variation and (iii) vgll3 effects on age at maturity might be similar between populations and different thermal environments.

Automated summary

Age at maturity in Atlantic salmon is greatly influenced by temperature and an age-at-maturity gene. The effect of temperature differs between populations, but the gene has a similar effect in both temperatures and populations. Age at maturity is important for population structures and involves a trade-off between survival risk and reproductive investment.