Analysis of the association between spawning time QTL markers and the biannual spawning behavior in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The rainbow trout is a salmonid fish that occasionally exhibits broodstocks with biannual spawning behavior, a phenomenon known as a double annual reproductive cycle (DARC). Spawning time quantitative trait loci (SPT-QTLs) affect the time of the year that female rainbow trout spawn and may influence expression of the DARC trait. In this study, microsatellite markers linked and unlinked to SPT-QTLs were genotyped to investigate the underlying genetics of this trait. SPT-QTLs influenced the DARC trait since in two case-control comparisons three linked markers (OmyFGT12TUF, One3ASC and One19ASC) had significant levels of allelic frequency differentiation and marker-character association. Furthermore, alleles of One3ASC and One19ASC had significantly higher frequencies in populations that carried the DARC trait.