No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Continued consumption of alcohol despite the knowledge of negative consequences is a hallmark of alcohol use disorder (AUD), yet much remains unknown about what motivates these behaviors. Compulsive drinking may require motivational resources that are not necessary when drinking in unchallenged conditions in order to counteract the addition of these negative consequences. Increased sensitivity to drug-paired stimuli via associative learning processes may provide this additional motivation. To evaluate if alcohol-paired stimuli enhance alcohol seeking, selectively bred crossed High Alcohol Preferring mice experienced Pavlovian conditioning procedures with an alcohol unconditioned stimulus. We hypothesized that after repeated pairings, alcohol cues would elicit seeking conditioned responses. Then, to determine if the motivation provided by these cues influenced responding, mice were trained to respond for alcohol and tested in the presence of alcohol cues. Finally, to test if alcohol-paired cues influence compulsive drinking, this same test was repeated with the addition of response-contingent footshock. We hypothesized the cue paired with alcohol would increase responding for alcohol in unchallenged conditions, but especially in challenged conditions, contributing to compulsivity. An auditory stimulus paired with alcohol did elicit enhanced seeking responses, but contrary to hypothesis, we observed no effect of these same cues on instrumental responding. To validate these findings, training and testing procedures must be optimized to ensure conditioning has properly occurred and compulsivity is being appropriately measured.

No description available.

This study reports on investigation of ways of improving the breeding programme for growth-related traits in common carp in Vietnam. The base population was synthesized following a single pair mating scheme from six carp stocks: (1) 2nd generation of family selection; (2) Hungarian 6th generation of mass selection; (3) Hungarian scaled carp; (4) Indonesian yellow 6th generation of mass selection; (5) Indonesian yellow carp; and (6) Vietnamese 6th generation of mass selection. The next two selected generations were produced using a partial factorial mating scheme, with each family being split and reared using communal early rearing (CER) or separate early rearing (SER) methods. The second generation (G2) was produced from selected fish from the CER G1 group. The total number of selection, control and reference families was 135 in the G1 and 101 in the G2 respectively. The control and reference (Hungarian P33 line) families were produced by single pair mating (reference families with the G2 only). Seven microsatellite loci were used for parentage assignment in the CER groups: 96.8% of the offspring (1284 individuals) and 96.2% offspring (1341 individuals) were unambiguously assigned to 113 families (selection, control) in the G1 and 99 families (selection, control and reference) in the G2 generations, respectively. Restricted maximum likelihood in the individual model was used to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters. In CER, the estimated heritability values of common carp were from 0.20 ± 0.04 to 0.29 ± 0.05 for both weight and length at final harvest, indicating substantial additive genetic variation for selection on growth-related traits. The overall obtained maternal and common environmental effects were consistently close to zero. The average of direct response to selection for body weight was 15.0% per generation. In SER, the number of families in the G1 and G2 were 135 (selection and control) and 101 (selection, control and reference), respectively. The heritability estimates were from 0.20 ± 0.07 to 0.31 ± 0.08 at final measurement. Common environmental (full-sib family) effect were all lower at tagging and slightly higher at last measurement, ranging from 0.05 to 0.22. The response in each generation of selection as the difference between the selection and control lines was 8.1% on average for weight at final harvest, lower than under CER. The high genetic correlations of growth-related traits between the third (one year old, mature) and second (7 months old) measurements could allow selection to be based on the earlier assessment, reducing handling stress close to spawning. The benefits of using microsatellite markers to ascertain parentage, achieve greater growth rate (close to farming systems), shorten time to maturity and selection, and the overall relative merits of using CER v’s SER in this genetic improvement programme are discussed.

I examined phenotypic and genetic variation in growth traits in 30 families of commercial Fraser strain Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) reared in freshwater (FRW) and brackish water (BRW) in Eastern Canada. I detected family by treatment interactions for all traits [body weight (BW), condition factor (K) and specific growth rate (SGR)] across all measurement dates and growth intervals, however, mean family BW in FRW was correlated phenotypically with BRW BW. In addition, FRW fish showed significantly greater survival than those transferred to BRW and fish which survived until the conclusion of the experiment were significantly heavier in BW at the baseline assessment than their full-sibs that died. These observations suggest that BW in FRW and BW in BRW should be analyzed as separate but correlated traits in Arctic charr breeding programs. I then tested the potential for genetic improvement in this species by calculating genetic parameters for BW and K, and tested if previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for these traits were detectable across the broodstock. QTL with experiment-wide and chromosome-wide significance for body size and condition factor were detected on multiple linkage groups. Heritability for BW and K was moderate in FRW (0.29-0.38) but lower in BRW (0.14-0.17). Genetic correlations for BW across environments were positive and moderate (0.33-0.67), however equivalent K correlations were weaker (0.24-0.37). This information was then used to predict the rate of genetic change following one generation of selection for BW using phenotypic selection and genomic methodologies including marker-only selection and marker assisted selection. The greatest response in the rate of genetic change was achieved by selecting only from families in which significant BW QTL had been identified. As such, marker assisted selection showed the greatest gain in genetic response with 5.4% in FRW and 4.3% in BRW. These results have applications to commercial aquaculture as the Canadian aquaculture industry is attempting to diversify with alternative species. Such genetic improvement strategies will aid in developing a strain of Arctic charr characterised by increased BW. / Funding provided through the NSERC Strategic grants program. The project was sponsored by CanAqua Seafoods Ltd. in collaboration with the Coastal Zones Research Institute.

No abstract.

Le développement de l’halioticulture est récent et a été très rapide au niveau mondial. Il s’explique par une demande supérieure à l’offre et par un épuisement des stocks dans le milieu naturel. Pour soutenir leur développement, la plupart des filières de production halioticole ont récemment mis en place des programmes de sélection génétique. En France, la filière ormeaux peine à se développer. Cette thèse CIFRE, cofinancée par France Haliotis, seule écloserie d’ormeau en France, a donc été initiée afin de définir les bases d’un programme de sélection pour améliorer la rentabilité de son élevage. La thèse s’est déroulée en deux étapes : l’étude des effets du processus de domestication observés sur les ormeaux issus de cette écloserie, et l’estimation de paramètres génétiques dans son système de production. Deux expérimentations comparant une population sauvage et une population d’élevage ont permis de montrer que les ormeaux produits sur l’élevage jusqu’en 2013 présentaient des performances égales à celles des ormeaux sauvages. A l’âge adulte, les ormeaux d’élevage ont néanmoins montré une moins grande sensibilité aux manipulations d’élevage et un comportement d’évitement des prédateurs produit par rapport aux ormeaux sauvages. L’estimation de paramètres génétiques a pu être effectuée grâce à la constitution d’un jeu de 123 marqueurs SNP permettant la reconstruction du pedigree de familles élevées en mélange pendant 4 ans. L’estimation de l’héritabilité de différents caractères associés à la croissance montre que des progrès importants pourraient être obtenus par sélection sur le poids à 42 mois. En revanche, les caractères comportementaux et physiologiques étudiés dans cette thèse n’apparaissent pas ou peu héritable. Un programme de sélection adapté au système de France Haliotis a donc été proposé pour améliorer le poids des animaux à 4 ans. L’analyse des corrélations génétiques suggère qu’une sélection multicritères pour améliorer conjointement la croissance, le taux de chair et contrôler l’évolution du développement gonadique, pourrait également être envisagée. / In the context of an increasing demand and a declining supply from fisheries, worldwide aquaculture production of abalone has greatly increased in the last decades. Selective breeding has been initiated to improve growth in major abalone species. In France, the abalone production was initiated 30 years ago and struggles to develop. This CIFRE PhD co-financed by France Haliotis, the only French hatchery in activity, was initiated to study early domestication process of farmed abalone population and to provide knowledge required to design a selective breeding program adapted to this company. Wild and farmed populations were compared, showing that, until 2013, farmed and wild abalone presented similar performances. However, lower physiological and behavioural responses to farm stressor were observed, as well as less response to predator contact.Estimations of genetic parameters were performed using a novel set of 123 SNP markers in order to successfully assign parentage in a single cohort resulting from the reproduction of 40 broodstock reared under common conditions over 4 years. Heritability estimates were obtained for a large number of production traits, indicating that individual selection of live weight when 42-month-old would lead to significant gains. A selective breeding program suitable for France Haliotis production system has been proposed to improve the weight at 4 years. The analysis of genetic correlations suggest that a multi-criteria and selective breeding program to improve growth, meat yield and to control reproductive allocation could also be established, but would be more complex to implement

The rise of atmospheric CO2 is a threat to many ecosystems, including coral reefs. Rising sea surface temperatures are known to interfere on coral health and cause extensive worldwide mortality. In the Red Sea, coral reefs are spread across 18 degrees of latitude, resulting in a temperature gradient with maximum monthly mean sea surface temperatures ranging from around 33 °C in the south to 27°C in the north. Such gradients can lead to adaptations to local conditions, with coral thermal performance expected to increase along temperature/latitude gradients. In this research, I used the corals Porites lobata and Platygyra daedalea collected in various locations in the Red Sea to resolve fine-scale populational differences in thermotolerance along the Red Sea, and assess if this variability can be explored for potential assisted gene flow projects (i.e. assisted migration and selective breeding) within the Red Sea region. In chapter two, a heat stress assay indicated that P. lobata colonies from the Southern Red Sea have a higher thermal bleaching threshold than conspecifics from Northern latitudes, highlighting their potential as source of temperature resilient colonies. In chapter three, a common garden experimental design showed that thermotolerance of southern P. lobata colonies is maintained when transplanted to a foreign environment. However, despite lack of bleaching in Southern colonies, mortality rates of approximately 20% suggested that other environmental constraints besides temperature might impact coral health and survival. In chapter four, purebred Arabian Gulf larvae generated by cross-breeding colonies of Platygyra daedalea collected along the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf showed higher survival under heat stress. In addition, paternal survival index increased in crosses with fathers from warmer locations. These results combined indicate that assisted gene flow via translocation alone may have limited success due to a lack of local adaptations to environmental conditions other than temperature. Nonetheless, inter-populational breeding may overcome these limitations as they could generate offspring with both increased thermal tolerance and local adaptations.

No description available.

Ce travail de thèse a eu pour objectif d’identifier les mécanismes majeurs intervenant dans la régulation de l’adiposité musculaire chez la truite arc-en-ciel. Pour cela, nous avons analysé les effets combinés de la sélection génétique et de l’alimentation, facteurs prépondérants de variation de l'adiposité. Deux lignées de truites arc-en-ciel sélectionnées sur la teneur en lipides du muscle dorsal ("muscle gras" et "muscle maigre"), ont été nourries pendant 6 mois avec un régime contenant 10 ou 23% de lipides (% de la matière sèche). Nous avons mesuré l'activité et/ou l'expression d’enzymes clé des principales voies métaboliques intervenant dans l'utilisation de l'énergie, puis développé une analyse différentielle globale à l’échelle du transcriptome (microarray nylon) et du protéome (électrophorèse bidimensionnelle). Ces analyses portent sur le muscle blanc, tissu cible de la sélection, et le foie, carrefour métabolique et site majeur de la lipogenèse chez les poissons. Les résultats obtenus confirment l’effet inhibiteur d’un apport alimentaire riche en lipides sur la lipogénèse et la désaturation des acides gras dans le foie, déjà observé chez des individus de plus grande taille, et fournissent de nouvelles connaissances sur l’effet exercé sur les autres voies, en particulier la protéolyse. Ces analyses ont également permis de mettre en évidence des différences métaboliques existant entre lignées, qui concernent non seulement le métabolisme des lipides mais aussi celui des autres substrats énergétiques. Il apparaît que les deux moyens utilisé pour augmenter la teneur en lipides du muscle mettent en jeu des mécanismes moléculaires différents. Nos travaux ont permis d’identifier deux gènes dont l’expression est augmentée dans le muscle en réponse à un apport alimentaire riche en lipides et par la sélection génétique en faveur d’un indice d’adiposité musculaire élevé, et qui pourraient être des marqueurs moléculaires de l’adiposité musculaire. / The objective of the study was to identify genes and proteins that are involved in the control of muscle fat deposition in rainbow trout. We analyzed the combined effects exerted by genetic selection and dietary treatment, which are the two main factors that can be used to manage body fat content. Two lines of rainbow trout, obtained after 3 generations of divergent selection for high or low muscle fat content, were fed diets containing either 10% or 23% lipids (% dry matter), for six months. We analyzed the activity and gene expression of key enzymes involved in energy utilization, and performed a more global approach through transcriptome (nylon microarray) and proteome (two- dimensional electrophoresis) analysis. We analyzed the liver, which is the centre of intermediary metabolism and the main site of lipogenesis in fish, and the muscle, the target tissue of the selection provedure. The results confirmed the depressing effect exerted by a lipid rich diet on lipogenesis and fatty acid desaturation, already described in larger size fish, and provided new insight about the effect exerted on the other metabolic pathways, in particular the proteolysis. These analyses pointed out metabolic differences existing between lines. They involved not only lipid metabolism, but also the other pathways of nutrient utilization. With regard to their muscle-fattening effect, the dietary treatment and the genetic selection appear to act through different molecular mechanisms. These analyses allowed the identification of two genes that are over-expressed in muscle upon both high dietary lipid supply and upward selection for muscle fat content, suggesting that these two genes could be relevant molecular markers of muscle fattening.