Genetic Estimates for Growth and Shape-Related Traits in the Flatfish Senegalese Sole

Shape quality is very important in flatfish aquaculture due to the impact on commercialization. The Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) is a valuable flatfish with a highly elliptic body that slightly changes with age and size, and it is prone to accumulating malformations during the production cycle. The present study aims to investigate the genetic parameters of two growth traits (weight and standard length) and six shape quality predictors (ellipticity, three body heights (body height at the pectoral fin base [BHP], body maximum height [BMH] and caudal peduncle height [CPH]) and two ratios (BMH/BHP and BMH/CPH)). These traits were measured before the on-growing stage (age ~400 days (d)) and at harvest (~800 d). Phenotypic data, heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlations between the traits are presented and discussed. High or very high heritabilities (0.433-0.774) were found for growth traits, body heights and ellipticity and they were higher at 400 than 800 d. In contrast, the ratios of BMH/BHP and BMH/CPH were less heritable (0.144-0.306). Positive and very high (>0.95) correlations between growth traits and the three heights were found and decreased with age. In contrast, ellipticity had negative and medium-high genetic correlations with growth traits and heights, indicating fish selected for bigger size would also become rounder. The ratio of BMH/CPH showed low genetic correlations with all traits and provided complementary information to ellipticity for a better fitting to the expected lanceolate body morphology of sole. The genetic correlations for all traits at both ages were very high, indicating that selection before entering the growth-out stage in recirculation aquaculture systems is recommended to accelerate genetic gains.This research was funded by MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, grant numbers RTA2017-00054-C03- 01 and RTA2017-00054-C03-03. Moreover, this research was funded by the EU H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement 817992 ERANET-BLUEBIO COFUND project PCI2020-111994 “BestBrood”. IGC is funded by a predoctoral fellowship from INIA.Ye

Evaluation of different tags on survival, growth and stress response in the flatfish Senegalese sole

Internal electronic tagging is a major issue in flatfish species due to the small size of abdominal cavity. In this study, three tag types, referred to as Nonatec, nano and mini, were evaluated in three weight classes of Senegalese sole: small (0.3 g), middle (0.8 g) and large (2.0 g). Tags were injected from the blind side and fish were carefully handled to minimize sharp movements. Tag losses were 8% in the small size class, between 5.2 and 15.1% in the middle size class and 2–4% in the large size class. The mortality rates ranged between 2.0 and 15.0% with the lowest values in the large size class. No negative effects of tags on growth (tagged vs non-tagged fish using a middle size class) were found after 57 days of culture. Four additional trials using mini tags in a large size class at industrial scale validated our experimental results. With respect to morphology, no differences in the area, ellipticity and circularity were found except for a slight higher aspect ratio index in mini- and nano-tagged soles when compared with untagged fish. A longitudinal analysis of growth using the tag type, sex and tag position (anterior, medium or posterior) as fixed factors revealed a significant and strong effect of sex, with females appearing significantly heavier (13.6%) than males. In addition, the significant interactions between tag position and tag type with the time indicated a delayed growth of Nonatec-tagged fish and specimens with tags in the posterior section of abdomen. Expression analysis of stress-related genes revealed an activation of HPI axis and cellular stress defenses at 2 days just after tagging (dat) not evident at 11 dat. All these data indicate that soles can be successfully tagged at very small sizes both at experimental and industrial scales if tag type is properly selected and fish correctly handled. Moreover, sex and tag position are significant factors affecting growth that need to be controlled in longitudinal studies and selective breeding programs

Feed and immersion challenges with lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) reveals specific mechanisms for horizontal transmission and immune response in senegalese sole post-larvae

The horizontal transmission of lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) through contaminated water and feed (using artemia as vehicle) and the associated immune gene expression profiles in Senegalese sole post-larvae were investigated. All specimens analyzed were positive for LCDV DNA detection at 1-day post-challenge (1 dpc) with the highest viral levels in specimens infected through the immersion route. However, the percentage of LCDV-positive animals and number of viral DNA copies dropped progressively at 2 and 7 dpc. The histological analysis identified structural changes in the skin, muscle and gills of sole post-larvae LCDV-challenged by immersion. In situ hybridization confirmed a wide distribution of LCDV in the skin, gut, surrounding vessels in trunk muscle and head kidney in the immersion route, while the signals were restricted to the liver and lamina propria in the feeding treatment. Expression analysis using a set of 22 genes related to innate immune defense system demonstrated clear differences in the time-course response to LCDV as function of the infection route. Most antiviral defense genes, the proinflammatory cytokines, the complement c3, g-type lysozyme and T-cell markers cd4 and cd8a were rapidly induced in the feeding-infected post-larvae, and they were remained activated at 2 dpc. In contrast, in the immersion-infected post-larvae the induction of most defensive genes was delayed, with a low intensity at 2 dpc. All these data demonstrate that LCDV can horizontally infect Senegalese sole post-larvae through the water or feed although with different patterns of histopathological disorders, virus distribution and route-specific expression profiles.This study has been funded by MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE Project RTA2017-00054-C03-01 and cofunded 80% by Programa Operativo FEDER de Andalucía 2014–2020, project PP.AVA.AVA201601.9 “Nuevas herramientas genómicas para el análisis genético y evaluación transcriptómica de compuestos funcionales basados en microalgas para impulsar la acuicultura del lenguado (SOLEALGAE)”. In addition, it was also partially supported by Proyecto de Excelencia, Junta de Andalucía, P12-RNM-2261. Carlos Carballo was supported by an INIA PhD grant (2014)

Chromosome anchoring in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) reveals sex-associated markers and genome rearrangements in flatfish

Abstract The integration of physical and high-density genetic maps is a very useful approach to achieve chromosome-level genome assemblies. Here, the genome of a male Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) was de novo assembled and the contigs were anchored to a high-quality genetic map for chromosome-level scaffolding. Hybrid assembled genome was 609.3 Mb long and contained 3403 contigs with a N50 of 513 kb. The linkage map was constructed using 16,287 informative SNPs derived from ddRAD sequencing in 327 sole individuals from five families. Markers were assigned to 21 linkage groups with an average number of 21.9 markers per megabase. The anchoring of the physical to the genetic map positioned 1563 contigs into 21 pseudo-chromosomes covering 548.6 Mb. Comparison of genetic and physical distances indicated that the average genome-wide recombination rate was 0.23 cM/Mb and the female-to-male ratio 1.49 (female map length: 2,698.4 cM, male: 2,036.6 cM). Genomic recombination landscapes were different between sexes with crossovers mainly concentrated toward the telomeres in males while they were more uniformly distributed in females. A GWAS analysis using seven families identified 30 significant sex-associated SNP markers located in linkage group 18. The follicle-stimulating hormone receptor appeared as the most promising locus associated with sex within a region with very low recombination rates. An incomplete penetrance of sex markers with males as the heterogametic sex was determined. An interspecific comparison with other Pleuronectiformes genomes identified a high sequence similarity between homologous chromosomes, and several chromosomal rearrangements including a lineage-specific Robertsonian fusion in S. senegalensis

Yeast β-glucans and microalgal extracts modulate the immune response and gut microbiome in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis)

One bottleneck to sustainability of fish aquaculture is the control of infectious diseases. Current trends include the preventive application of immunostimulants and prebiotics such as polysaccharides. The present study investigated how yeast β-glucan (Y), microalgal polysaccharide-enriched extracts (MAe) and whole Phaeodactylum tricornutum cells (MA) modulated the gut microbiome and stimulated the immune system in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) when administered by oral intubation. Blood, intestine and spleen samples were taken at 3 h, 24 h, 48 h and 7 days after treatment. The short-term response (within 48 h after treatment) consisted of up-regulation of il1b and irf7 expression in the gut of the Y treated group. In contrast, administration of MAe decreased expression of tnfa and the chemokine cxc10 in the gut and spleen. Both treatments down-regulated the expression of irf3 with respect to the control group. Lysozyme activity in plasma decreased at 48 h only in the MAe-treated soles. Medium-term response consisted of the up-regulation of clec and irf7 expression in the gut of the Y, MAe and MA groups and of il1b mRNAs in the spleen of the MA group compared to the control group. Microbiome analysis using 16S rDNA gene sequencing indicated that the intestine microbiome was dominated by bacteria of the Vibrio genus (>95%). All the treatments decreased the relative proportion of Vibrio in the microbiome and Y and MAe decreased and MA increased diversity. Quantitative PCR confirmed the load of bacteria of the Vibrio genus was significantly decreased and this was most pronounced in Y treated fish. These data indicate that orally administrated insoluble yeast β-glucans acted locally in the gut modulating the immune response and controlling the Vibrio abundance. In contrast, the MAe slightly reduced the Vibrio load in the intestine and caused a transient systemic anti-inflammatory response. The results indicate that these polysaccharides are a promising source of prebiotics for the sole aquaculture industry.H2020 MSCA-RISE project 691102 CCMAR/Multi/04326/2016info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio