It's all in the genes -- including the tracking device

Cutting-edge technology used to genetically tag fish in the Snake River Basin

2013-06-24

(Press-News.org) This news release is available in French.

Parentage-based tagging (PBT) is an emerging genetic-based fish tagging method that involves genotyping hatchery broodstock. PBT is a passive non-invasive approach to stock identification because the parents, not the offspring, are genetically sampled at spawning, thereby "tagging" the offspring. This method provides the same information as traditional physical tags but also allows for collection of more detailed information that previously was impossible or impractical to gather using traditional tagging methods.

According to the article published today in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences: "This study in the Snake River basin is one of the first large-scale implementations of PBT in salmonids and lays the foundation for adopting this technology more broadly, thereby allowing the unprecedented ability to mark millions of smolts and an opportunity to address a variety of fisheries-based research and management questions."

Genetically tagging hatchery-reared fish using PBT is extremely efficient because genotyping hundreds of broodstock parents results in millions of tagged offspring. When fully implemented, PBT can "tag" 100% of hatchery-origin fish.

"The role of genetic methods in fisheries management has reached a milestone," says Craig Steele, a researcher at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Fish Genetics Laboratory in Eagle, Idaho, and lead author of the study. "The main application of this technology is to provide information on the origin and age of hatchery fish. But it can also provide additional information relevant to conservation and management efforts including assessments of genetic diversity, relative reproductive success, and the heritability of different physical or behavioral traits."

Since 2008, a regional sampling effort by collaborating state, tribal, and federal agencies has resulted in the implementation of this genetic tagging approach in hatchery-origin steelhead and spring-summer Chinook in the Snake River Basin. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) verified the accuracy of this new approach and presented the results of their collaborative study in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

The IDFG is committed to adopting PBT as a tool for fisheries management. Collaborative efforts with CRITFC are now underway to expand genetic sampling outside the Snake River Basin and throughout the Columbia River Basin. Adopting this genetic approach for large-scale fisheries management positions the region among the first to use this cutting-edge technology.

### This article is available free on the CJFAS website: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2012-0451

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Pediatric practices can offer smoking cessation assistance to parents of their patients

2013-06-24

Finally some good news for parents who smoke: you may now be able to get help quitting from an unlikely source, your child's doctor. A study in the journal Pediatrics, which has been posted online, shows that it is feasible for pediatric practices to incorporate into their normal routine efforts to inform patients' parents about services available to help them quit smoking. A research team led by MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) physicians describes how practices implementing a program through which parents who smoke receive assistance in quitting reached nearly ...

Oregon chemists moving forward with tool to detect hydrogen sulfide

2013-06-24

EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 24, 2013) -- University of Oregon chemists have developed a selective probe that detects hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels as low as 190 nanomolar (10 parts per billion) in biological samples. They say the technique could serve as a new tool for basic biological research and as an enhanced detection system for H2S in suspected bacterially contaminated water sources. Hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas, has long been known for its dangerous toxicity -- and its telltale smell of rotten eggs -- in the environment, but in the last decade the gas has been found ...

New study says a person's physical environment affects their likelihood of dishonest behavior

2013-06-24

NEW YORK — A new study from researchers at leading business schools reveals that expansive physical settings (e.g. having a big desk to stretch out while doing work or a large driver's seat in an automobile) can cause individuals to feel more powerful, and in turn these feelings of power can elicit more dishonest behavior such as stealing, cheating, and even traffic violations. "In everyday working and living environments, our body postures are incidentally expanded and contracted by our surroundings — by the seats in our cars, the furniture in and around workspaces, ...

The genome's 3-D structure shapes how genes are expressed

2013-06-24

Scientists from Australia and the United States bring new insights to our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the genome, one of the biggest challenges currently facing the fields of genomics and genetics. Their findings are published in Nature Genetics, online today. Roughly 3 metres of DNA is tightly folded into the nucleus of every cell in our body. This folding allows some genes to be 'expressed', or activated, while excluding others. Dr Tim Mercer and Professor John Mattick from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Professor John Stamatoyannopoulos ...

Sugar solution makes tissues see-through

2013-06-24

Japanese researchers have developed a new sugar and water-based solution that turns tissues transparent in just three days, without disrupting the shape and chemical nature of the samples. Combined with fluorescence microscopy, this technique enabled them to obtain detailed images of a mouse brain at an unprecedented resolution. The team from the RIKEN Center for Developmental biology reports their finding today in Nature Neuroscience. Over the past few years, teams in the USA and Japan have reported a number of techniques to make biological samples transparent, that ...

Unexpected discovery of the ways cells move could boost understanding of complex diseases

2013-06-24

Boston, MA – A new discovery about how cells move inside the body may provide scientists with crucial information about disease mechanisms such as the spread of cancer or the constriction of airways caused by asthma. Led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), investigators found that epithelial cells—the type that form a barrier between the inside and the outside of the body, such as skin cells—move in a group, propelled by forces both from within and from nearby cells—to fill any unfilled spaces ...

Getting to grips with migraine

2013-06-24

In the largest study of migraines, researchers have found 5 genetic regions that for the first time have been linked to the onset of migraine. This study opens new doors to understanding the cause and biological triggers that underlie migraine attacks. The team identified 12 genetic regions associated with migraine susceptibility. Eight of these regions were found in or near genes known to play a role in controlling brain circuitries and two of the regions were associated with genes that are responsible for maintaining healthy brain tissue. The regulation of these pathways ...

Finding Murray's magic

2013-06-24

Research suggests that it is Andy Murray's ability to manage his goals, as well as his skill, determination and motivation that makes him such a successful athlete. Murray dropped out of the French Open after a back injury this year, missing out on his goal of playing in four grand slam finals in a row. But this decision has allowed him to recuperate in time for Wimbledon this month. According to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), athletes who recognise early when a goal is unattainable and switch their focus to other objectives are ...

Powerful gene-editing tool appears to cause off-target mutations in human cells

2013-06-24

In the past year a group of synthetic proteins called CRISPR-Cas RNA-guided nucleases (RGNs) have generated great excitement in the scientific community as gene-editing tools. Exploiting a method that some bacteria use to combat viruses and other pathogens, CRISPR-Cas RGNs can cut through DNA strands at specific sites, allowing the insertion of new genetic material. However, a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has found a significant limitation to the use of CRISPR-Cas RGNs, production of unwanted DNA mutations at sites other than the desired target. ...

La Jolla Institute discovers new player critical to unleashing T cells against disease

2013-06-24

SAN DIEGO – (June 23, 2013) A major study from researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology provides new revelations about the intricate pathways involved in turning on T cells, the body's most important disease-fighting cells, and was published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. The La Jolla Institute team is the first to prove that a certain type of protein, called septins, play a critical role in activating a calcium channel on the surface of the T cell. The channel is the portal through which calcium enters T cells from the ...

Identification of chemical constituents and blood-absorbed components of Shenqi Fuzheng extract based on UPLC-triple-TOF/MS technology

'Glass fences' hinder Japanese female faculty in international research, study finds

Vector winds forecast by numerical weather prediction models still in need of optimization

[Press-News.org] It's all in the genes -- including the tracking device
Cutting-edge technology used to genetically tag fish in the Snake River Basin

It's all in the genes -- including the tracking device

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: