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Genetic Parameter Estimation of Body Weight and VpAHPND Resistance in Two Strains of Penaeus vannamei
by
, ,
Guixian Huang
1,2,3
,
Jie Kong
1,2,
Jiteng Tian
1,2,
Sheng Luan
1,2,
Mianyu Liu
1,2,4,
Kun Luo
1,2,
Jian Tan
1,2,
Jiawang Cao
1,2,
Ping Dai
1,2,
Guangfeng Qiang
1,2,
Qun Xing
5,
Juan Sui
1,2,* and
Xianhong Meng
1,2,* 1
State Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Qingdao 266071, China
2
Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, China
3
College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
4
College of Fisheries, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
5
BLUP Aquabreed Co., Ltd., Weifang 261311, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2025, 15(9), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15091266 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 30 March 2025
/
Revised: 26 April 2025
/
Accepted: 27 April 2025
/
Published: 29 April 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Genetics and Genomics)
Simple Summary
This study compared the genetic parameters of growth traits and resistance to acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) in two strains of Penaeus vannamei. A controlled pathogen challenge test was conducted to evaluate five phenotypic traits: body weight, survival time post-infection, family survival rate at 36 h post-infection, family survival rate at the median lethal time within each strain, and family survival rate at 60 h post-infection. Two models were applied: the pedigree-based best linear unbiased prediction (pBLUP) model and the single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP) model. Compared to pBLUP, ssGBLUP, which incorporates maternal genomic information, yielded higher heritability estimates for all traits in both strains. A moderate positive genetic correlation was observed between body weight and survival time under AHPND challenge, suggesting the feasibility of multi-trait selection for both growth and disease resistance. However, using only maternal genomic information provided limited improvement in the accuracy of genetic evaluations for body weight and resistance. To enhance breeding efficiency, future selection programs should incorporate genotyping data from a larger number of offspring.
Abstract
This study evaluated the genetic parameters for growth and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VpAHPND) resistance in both the introduced MK strain and the self-constructed GK strain of Penaeus vannamei, investigating the impact of genotyped female parents on trait estimates under a single-parent nested mating design. A total of 32 families from the MK strain and 44 families from the GK strain were analyzed. Fifty-four female parents from both strains were genotyped using the “Yellow Sea Chip No. 1” containing 10.0 K SNPs. In the MK strain, heritability estimates ranged from 0.439 to 0.458 for body weight (Bw) and from 0.308 to 0.489 for survival time (ST) and survival rates at 36 h (36 SR), 50% mortality (SS50), and 60 h (60 SR). In the GK strain, heritability for Bw ranged from 0.724 to 0.726, while ST, 36 SR, SS50, and 60 SR had heritability estimates between 0.370 and 0.593. Genetic correlations between Bw and ST were 0.601 to 0.622 in the MK strain and 0.742 to 0.744 in the GK strain. For Bw and survival rates, correlations ranged from 0.120 to 0.547 in the MK strain and from 0.426 to 0.906 in the GK strain. The genetic correlation between ST and survival rates was not significantly different from 1 (p > 0.05) in both strains. High Pearson correlations (0.853 to 0.997, p < 0.01) were observed among survival rates at different points. Predictive accuracies for Bw, ST, and survival rates using single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP) were comparable to pedigree-based best linear unbiased prediction (pBLUP) in the MK strain, while in the GK strain, ssGBLUP improved predictive accuracies for Bw, ST, and SS50 by 0.20%, 0.32%, and 0.38%, respectively. The results indicate that both growth and VpAHPND resistance have significant breeding potential. Although the genetic correlation between weight and resistance varies across different populations, there is a positive genetic correlation between these traits, supporting the feasibility of multi-trait selection. To enhance genetic accuracy, breeding programs should include more genotyped progeny. These findings also suggest that infection frequency and observation time influence resistance performance and breeding selection, emphasizing the need for a tailored resistance evaluation program to improve breeding efficiency and reduce costs.
Keywords:
Penaeus vannamei; ssGBLUP; Vp AHPND; body weight
