Genome-wide association analysis of growth traits in cultured and wild populations of Pelteobagrus ussuriensis

To reveal the molecular genetic mechanism of growth traits for Pelteobagrus ussuriensis, we employed RAD sequencing technology to perform a genome-wide association analysis, so as to screen the loci significantly related to the growth-related traits and gender in wild and cultured populations of P. ussuriensis. The results show that when a single-trait linear model was applied to analyze the growth and gender traits, 21−199 gene loci were detected, respectively. Among these traits, gender exhibited the highest number of detected loci, while snout length showed the lowest. Additionally, the overlap between gene loci associated with gender trait and body mass trait was the most substantial. Gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis reveal that the gene loci associated with growth-related traits mainly involved in MAPK signaling pathway, regulating stem cell pluripotency, protein digestion and absorption, thyroid hormone synthesis, phosphatidylinositol signaling system and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. In contrast, the gene loci related to gender were mainly involved in MAPK signaling pathway, protein digestion and absorption, DNA replication, glycerolipid metabolism, cholesterol metabolism and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis.