Project Number: 1930-31000-008-08
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Oct 01, 2005
End Date: Sep 30, 2007

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to assess the genetic and diet effects on growth and reproduction in rainbow trout.

Approach:
The research is based on the results we obtained from the phase I study (RCA number 58-1930-3-344) and for all purposes can be treated as continuation of the phase I study. The goal of the study is to test for genetic and diet effects on growth and reproduction in the rainbow trout strains of Troutlodge, Inc. Fish from 100 half-sib families (100 dams crossed to 50 sires) will be pooled together prior to hatching and divided into two groups. One group will be fed a fishmeal diet and the other will be raised on a plant protein based diet. At the end of the growth trial 1000 individuals from each group will be sampled randomly, measured for weight and length and will be genotyped with microsatellite markers for parentage identification. Each family will be ranked by the average growth performance of the sampled progeny. The family assignment will be used to determine the family (i.e. genetic) effect on growth and to test for family by diet interactions. In other words, do the same fish that grow better in the standard fishmeal diet also perform better on the plant protein-based diet? Additionally, fish that were raised on plant diets in the phase I experiment will be spawned to evaluate viability of eggs and fry and other reproduction traits.