Evolution of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Breeding Programs

Abstract Text: The evolution of Coho salmon breeding programs, breeding objectives, genetic architecture, genetic response and trends, genetics of disease resistance and future implementation of genomic selection in Coho breeding are analyzed. The genetic gain for growth, after 7-8 generations, with a generation interval of 2 years, has been 10-13%. Current breeding objectives are based on estimated breeding values weighted by their marginal economic values including harvest weight, flesh color and disease resistance (SRS). Other traits included are fillet yield fat content and early spawning. The development of genomic resources in Coho salmon is limited; a second generation linkage map is only recently available. It is expected that in the near future whole-genome sequencing studies are applied to Coho salmon and a high-density SNP chip available for this species and the application of genomic information to assist breeding schemes in will be possible.

Keywords: Coho salmon, breeding objectives, genomic resources