Журнал бактериологии и паразитологии

Абстрактный

Additive genetic effects on embryo viability in white fish (family Salmonidae) under the influence of the water mold Saprolegnia ferax

Emily S. Clark and Klaus Wedekind

Animals and plants associate with symbiotic microbes whose roles range from mutualism to commensalism and parasitism. These roles may not only be taxon-specific but also dependent on environmental conditions and host factors. To experimentally test these possibilities, we took a random sample of adult whitefish from a natural population, bred them in vitro in a full-factorial design to disentangle additive genetic effects from maternal environmental effects on offspring, and tested the performance of the resulting embryos under a variety of environmental conditions. Enhancement of symbiotic microbe growth with additional nutrients released latent additive genetic variance for viability in the fish host. These effects were abolished by co-addition of the water mold Saprolegnia ferax. Our results indicate that the heritability of host fitness is sensitive to the environment and critically depends on interactions between symbiotic microbes.