Full production cycle performance of gene-edited, sterile Atlantic salmon - growth, smoltification, welfare indicators and fillet composition
Kleppe, L.; Fjelldal, P. G.; Andersson, E.; Hansen, T.; Sanden, M.; Bruvik, A.; Skaftnesmo, K. O.; Furmanek, T.; Kjærner-Semb, E.; Crespo, D.; Flavell, S.; Pedersen, A.; Vogelsang, P.; Torsvik, A.; Kvestad, K. A.; Olausson, S.; Norberg, B.; Schulz, R. W.; Bogerd, J.; Santi, N.; Edvardsen, R. B.; Wargelius, A.
(2022) Aquaculture, volume 560
(Article)
Abstract
Using germ cell-free (GCF), sterile, dnd-knockout salmon for farming could solve the problems associated with precocious maturation and genetic introgression of farmed breeds into wild populations. However, prior to using GCF fish in the salmon farming industry, it is crucial to understand if, or how, the GCF phenotype differs from
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wild type (WT) counterparts in terms of growth and welfare. To characterize the GCF phenotype throughout a production cycle, we reared GCF and WT salmon in indoor common garden tanks for 3 years, until harvest size. Regarding body size, smoltification markers (mRNA levels of gill Na+/K+-ATPase [NKA] subunits), plasma stress indicators (pH, glucose, sodium, chloride, calcium), relative heart size, prevalence of vertebra deformities and fillet proximate composition, GCF fish could not be distinguished from WTs. Transient differences were detected in plasma concentrations of lactate and osmolality, and only a few genes were differentially expressed in WT and GCF transcriptomes of muscle and pituitary. At harvest, fillets from GCF and WT salmon contained the same amount of omega-3 fatty acids, however the relative content of omega-3 fatty acids was higher in GCF compared to WT males. Towards harvest size, body growth rate, condition factor and relative liver size were significantly higher in WT than in GCF fish, probably relating to initiation of puberty in WTs. Since GCF salmon never become sexually mature, it is possible to postpone the time of harvest to exploit the growth potential uninhibited by sexual maturation. In conclusion, GCF salmon performed to a large extent similarly to their WT counterparts but had the clear advantage of never maturing.
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Keywords: Atlantic salmon, Growth, Sexual maturation, Sterility, Welfare indicators, dnd-knockout
ISSN: 0967-6120
Publisher: Springer
Note: Funding Information: We are grateful to the Research Council of Norway for funding this study (grant no. 267610/E40 ). The Genomics Core Facility (GCF) at the University of Bergen, which is a part of the NorSeq consortium, provided services on RNA-seq; GCF is supported in part by major grants from the Research Council of Norway (grant no. 245979/F50 ) and Bergen Research Foundation (BFS) (grant no. BFS2017TMT04 and BFS2017TMT08 ). Aquagen AS kindly provided salmon eggs and sperm. We highly appreciate the help from Ivar Helge Matre, Lise Dyrhovden and Tone Knappskog to produce and maintain the fish used in this study, and Fernando Ayllon for participating in microinjections. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors
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