Published paper: A first AFLP-based genetic linkage map for brine shrimp Artemia franciscana and its application in mapping the sex locus

Published paper from Marine@UGent member Stephanie De Vos: A first AFLP-based genetic linkage map for brine shrimp Artemia franciscana and its application in mapping the sex locus.

We report on the construction of sex-specific linkage maps, the identification of sex-linked genetic markers and the genome size estimation for the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana. Artemia is the most commonly used live food in aquaculture activities, specifically for larval growth of more than 85% of the marine species reared. Fifteen putatively homologous linkage groups, including the sex linkage groups, were identified between the female and male linkage map.

Eight sex-linked AFLP marker alleles were inherited from the female parent, supporting the hypothesis of a WZ–ZZ sex-determining system, as has already been found in economically important crustaceans, such as Pacific white shrimp (L. Vannamei), giant tiger prawn (P. monodon) and giant river prawn (M. rosenbergii). The haploid Artemia genome size was estimated to 0.93 Gb by flow cytometry. The produced Artemia linkage maps provide the basis for further fine mapping and exploring of the sex-determining region and are a possible marker resource for mapping genomic loci underlying phenotypic differences among Artemia species. In addition, we expect that forward genetic approaches in Artemia are not only restricted to Artemia-specific traits, but are also valuable for mapping traits such as sex, Vibrio pathogen resistance and growth rate, in commercially important crustaceans. We believe therefore that Artemia could be a useful model species for other crustaceans.

Link: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0057585