Genomic resources for the Yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares.

Background: The Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a large tuna exploited by major fisheries in tropical and subtropical waters of all oceans except the Mediterranean Sea. Genomic studies of population structure, adaptive variation or of the genetic basis of phenotypic traits are needed to inform fisheries management but are currently limited by the lack of a reference genome for this species. Here we report a draft genome assembly and a linkage map for use in genomic studies of T.

Nursery origin of yellowfin tuna in the western Atlantic Ocean: significance of Caribbean Sea and trans-Atlantic migrants.

Natural geochemical markers in the otolith of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) were used to establish nursery-specific signatures for investigating the origin of fish captured in the western Atlantic Ocean (WAO). Two classes of chemical markers (trace elements, stable isotopes) were used to first establish nursery-specific signatures of age-0 yellowfin tuna from four primary production zones in the Atlantic Ocean: Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Cape Verde, and Gulf of Guinea. Next, mixture and individual assignment methods were applied to predict the origin of sub-adult and adult yellowfin tuna from two regions in the WAO (Gulf of Mexico, Mid Atlantic Bight) by relating otolith core signatures (corresponding to age-0 period) to baseline signatures of age-0 fish from each nursery.

Development and Evaluation of High-Density SNP Arrays for the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica.

The eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is a major aquaculture species for the USA. The sustainable development of eastern oyster aquaculture depends upon the continued improvement of cultured stocks through advanced breeding technologies. The Eastern Oyster Breeding Consortium (EOBC) was formed to advance the genetics and breeding of the eastern oyster.

Population structure of blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) in the western Atlantic Ocean inferred from microsatellite loci.

The blackfin tuna, Thunnus atlanticus, is a small tropical tuna exploited by recreational and commercial fisheries in various parts of its range. Information on stock structure is needed to develop management plans for this species but is currently lacking. In this work, 470 blackfin tuna from nine geographic populations were assayed at 13 homologous microsatellite markers to provide a first assessment of stock structure across the species range.

Sperm Repository for a Breeding Program of the Eastern Oyster : Sample Collection, Processing, Cryopreservation, and Data Management Plan.

The Eastern oyster (Family Ostreidae) is one of the most important fishery and aquaculture species in the U.S. and is a keystone species for coastal reefs.

The rise and fall of the ancient northern pike master sex-determining gene.

The understanding of the evolution of variable sex determination mechanisms across taxa requires comparative studies among closely related species. Following the fate of a known master sex-determining gene, we traced the evolution of sex determination in an entire teleost order (Esociformes). We discovered that the northern pike () master sex-determining gene originated from a 65 to 90 million-year-old gene duplication event and that it remained sex linked on undifferentiated sex chromosomes for at least 56 million years in multiple species.

Community composition and antibiotic resistance of bacteria in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus - Potential impact of 2010 BP Oil Spill.

Aquatic contamination, oil spills in particular, could lead to the accumulation of antibiotic resistance by promoting selection for and/or transfer of resistance genes. However, there have been few studies on antibiotic resistance in marine mammals in relation to environmental disturbances, specifically oil contaminations. Here we initiated a study on antibiotic resistance bacteria in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in relation to oil contamination following the 2010 BP Oil Spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Development and characterization of genomic resources for a non-model marine teleost, the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus, Lutjanidae): Construction of a high-density linkage map, anchoring of genome contigs and comparative genomic analysis.

The red snapper Lutjanus campechanus is an exploited reef fish of major economic importance in the Gulf of Mexico region. Studies of genome wide genetic variation are needed to understand the structure of wild populations and develop breeding programs for aquaculture but interpretation of these genome scans is limited by the absence of reference genome. In this work, the first draft of a reference genome was developed and characterized for the red snapper.

Temperature effects and genotype-temperature interactions on sex determination in the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.).

The effect of temperature on sex-ratios in 27 families of sea bass reared in the same tank from the fertilization stage onward was investigated. An excess of males (68%) was found in the groups that were reared at high temperature (mean +/- standard deviation: 20+/-1 degrees C) until they reached the mean size of 8.1 cm (Standard Length, 149 days post-fertilization [p.