The pink salmon genome: Uncovering the genomic consequences of a two-year life cycle

PLoS One. 2021 Dec 17;16(12):e0255752. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255752. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) adults are the smallest of the five Pacific salmon native to the western Pacific Ocean. Pink salmon are also the most abundant of these species and account for a large proportion of the commercial value of the salmon fishery worldwide. A two-year life history of pink salmon generates temporally isolated populations that spawn either in even-years or odd-years. To uncover the influence of this genetic isolation, reference genome assemblies were generated for each year-class and whole genome re-sequencing data was collected from salmon of both year-classes. The salmon were sampled from six Canadian rivers and one Japanese river. At multiple centromeres we identified peaks of Fst between year-classes that were millions of base-pairs long. The largest Fst peak was also associated with a million base-pair chromosomal polymorphism found in the odd-year genome near a centromere. These Fst peaks may be the result of a centromere drive or a combination of reduced recombination and genetic drift, and they could influence speciation. Other regions of the genome influenced by odd-year and even-year temporal isolation and tentatively under selection were mostly associated with genes related to immune function, organ development/maintenance, and behaviour.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Canada
  • Female
  • Fish Proteins / classification
  • Fish Proteins / genetics*
  • Fish Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Speciation*
  • Genetics, Population
  • Genome*
  • Genomics / methods
  • Japan
  • Life Cycle Stages / genetics*
  • Male
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Reproduction / genetics*
  • Reproductive Isolation
  • Rivers
  • Salmon / classification
  • Salmon / genetics*
  • Salmon / growth & development
  • Salmon / metabolism
  • Whole Genome Sequencing

Substances

  • Fish Proteins

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.14963739.v1
  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.14963721.v1

Grants and funding

Support for this study came from the Canadian Regulatory System for Biotechnology and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to RHD and KAC. Support to BFK came from the EPIC4 project (Funded by Genome Canada, Genome British Columbia and Genome Québec). The funders did not have a role in study design, data collection, analyses, publication, or manuscript preparation.