Genome-Wide Association Analysis for Growth-Related Traits in Indoor- and Outdoor-Cultured Juvenile Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).

Abstract

Grass carp is a key herbivorous freshwater fish, yet long-term inbreeding reduces growth rates. Current genome-wide association studies (GWAS) primarily focus on a limited range of growth traits, while intestinal morphology is likely to emerge as a promising new proxy for both growth performance and health status. We reared juvenile grass carp from one batch in indoor vs. natural aquatic vegetation groups for 100 days, measuring body weight (BW), length (BL), height (BH), and intestinal length (IL) in 200 individuals (100/group). Phenotypic differences were significant for all traits, with IL most variable. GWAS identified 95 significant SNPs, among which 21 were related to multiple traits. Candidate gene and KEGG pathway analyses linked these SNPs to myogenesis, skeletal development, immunity, calcium signaling, and stress resistance. Twelve SNPs were found to be associated with IL, including 8 multi-trait-related and 4 trait-specific ones. This suggests that IL can serve as a supplementary growth trait. There was no overlap with prior GWAS, but recurrent signals on chromosomes 1, 2, 14 (BW) and 2, 3, 14, 24 (BH) merit further study. Our findings enrich molecular resources for grass carp and highlight IL's potential for marker-assisted breeding.