Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) remains a significant challenge for Atlantic salmon farming, particularly in cold-water environments. Identifying genetic factors associated with resistance is an important step toward improving fish health and resilience.
How can genetics help improve salmon health?
A newly published study, co-authored by researchers from Benchmark Genetics, investigated the genetic basis of resistance to Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) across two generations of Atlantic salmon. The research identified a significant genomic region associated with BKD resistance and explored candidate genes that may play a role in the immune response to the disease.
Notably, the study identified a favorable two-SNP haplotype associated with an average 17.45% reduction in mortality and approximately three additional days of survival under challenge conditions.
These findings suggest that genomic selection should remain the primary strategy for improving BKD resistance, while marker-assisted selection targeting the identified chromosome 25 region may provide complementary value by capturing a moderate but biologically relevant proportion of the genetic variation associated with disease resistance in Atlantic salmon.
Read the full article: Frontiers in Genetics
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