Abstracts (first author)


Genetic differentiation of Salmonidae populations in Southern Baltic Sea identified from a SNP genotyping

Author(s): Poćwierz-Kotus A, Bernaś R, Drywa A, Wenne R


Sea trout Salmo trutta and salmon Salmo salar belonging to Salmonidae family, have a wide distribution, including the rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea. Sea trout migrate from natal rivers to the sea where they forage until reaching sexual maturity, subsequently returning to their native rivers to spawn. The accessibility of natural spawning grounds has become very limited and most populations have been supported by stocking, resulting in a disrupted biodiversity. Genotyping of two Polish populations of sea trout from Vistula and Pomeranian river Słupia has been performed using an Atlantic salmon derived SNP-array. The average Fst over 39 polymorphic loci was 0.13. Generally, Vistula population was more genetically homogeneous, while the population of Pomeranian river was more diverse. Sixty SNPs were selected for further genetic studies of the Southern Baltic populations. Nine sea trout populations (from Poland, Lithuania, Bornholm, Russia and Estonia) were genotyped with the iPLEX Gold technology (Sequenom). Results indicated that the degree of genetic differentiation among populations, measured for 23 loci was moderate (average Fst=0.09). The high differentiation was observed between Polish river Słupia and Russian river (Fst=0.16). Low diversity was detected between Lithuanian Neman river and Polish Vistula river populations. Genetic structure analysis indicates that individuals from 9 populations were clustered into four groups. Atlantic salmon populations have a hierarchical structure of population differentiation and Baltic salmon forms one effectively isolated evolutionary unit of Atlantic salmon. Five populations of salmon (from Polish river Słupia and hatcheries, from Sweden and from Lithuania) were genotyped using an Atlantic salmon derived SNP-array (Illumina). Preliminary results indicated a close relationship between Polish populations from hatcheries relative to wild one and the distinctness of Swedish population.

Abstracts (coauthor)


Atlantic cod (G. morhua, L.) presently is one of the most valuable commercial species in the Baltic Sea. Cod’s distribution in the Baltic Sea may depends on salinity and availability of spawning and feeding areas. Five samples of Baltic cod (n=150) were used for analyzing SNPs and genes expression. Data obtained for genes related to environmental conditions, e.g. salinity and temperature (alpha-enolase (Gm1156), heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), aromatase (Aro9), and neuropeptide Y (NPY)) show different distribution of alleles and suggest presence of minimum 2 populations of cod: eastern and western. The transitions area between those populations are correlated to decrease of salinity. The eastern stock is adapted to local environment, characterized by very low salinity (under 7 PSU). In fish from western Baltic Sea we observe higher genetic heterogeneity than in the eastern population, which has a very low admixture of alleles other than those correlated with low salinity. Western population is probably under strong influence of the North Sea cod’s stock. Further research should indicate if hypothesis assuming link between this differentiation and influence of local adaptations of cod is valid.


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XIV Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology

Organization Team
Department of Animal Biology (DBA)
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon
P-1749-016 Lisbon


Computational Biology & Population Genomics Group