Renee Chou

Publications (2)1.2 Total impact

• Article: Estimating reproductive success of brooders and heritability of growth traits in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) using microsatellites

  Chun Ming Wang, Loong Chueng Lo, Ze Yuan Zhu, Grace Lin, Felicia Feng, Jian Li, Wen Tong Yang, Jason Tan, Renee Chou, Huan Sein Lim, Laszlo Orban, Gen Hua Yue
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  ABSTRACT: Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) is one of the most important marine food fish species in Asia and Australia. To estimate the reproductive success of broodstock and heritabilities of growth-related traits, two independent full-factorial crosses (PI and PII) were created by crossing 10 males and 10 females. At 90 days post hatch (dph), the body weight (BW) and total length (TL) of 804 individuals from PI and 900 individuals from PII were measured and tissues samples of each fish were collected. Parents and offspring were genotyped with nine polymorphic microsatellites. Out of 1704 offspring from the two crosses, 98.7% were assigned to their parents. In PI, 19 of 20 parents produced offspring, while in PII, only five parents contributed to offspring. Low contribution of parents to offspring could lead to reduced genetic variation in the next generation. Heritabilities for growth-related traits were estimated using the pedigrees reconstructed using microsatellite genotypes. The estimates of heritability were 0.22±0.16 and 0.25±0.18 for BW, 0.31±0.14 and 0.24±0.21 for TL and 0.22±0.22 and 0.15±0.09 for Fulton's condition factor in the two crosses respectively. Body weights at 90 dph and at harvest (289 dph) were significantly correlated (r=0.601, P<0.01). Therefore, growth-related traits could be improved by exploiting additive genetic effects through selective breeding, and broodstock candidates could be selected early in the production cycle.
  Aquaculture Research 07/2008; 39(15):1612 - 1619. · 1.20 Impact Factor
• Article: Genetic variation and population structure of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) in the Asia-Pacific region

  Gen Hua Yue, Ze Yuan Zhu, Loong Chueng Lo, Chun Ming Wang, Grace Lin, Felicia Feng, Hong Yan Pang, Jian Li, Ping Gong, Hui Ming Liu, Jason Tan, Renee Chou, Huansein Lim, Laszlo Orban
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  ABSTRACT: Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is an important marine foodfish species in Southeast Asia and Australia. To facilitate a selective breeding program conducted in Singapore, we genotyped 772 Asian seabass individuals collected from five cultured stocks and four wild populations originating from Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan using 14 polymorphic microsatellites. A total of 210 alleles were detected at 14 loci across the nine populations. Cultured stocks showed much lower allelic and gene diversity (A = 3.57–8.21 alleles/locus, Ho = 0.52–0.66 and He = 0.47–0.74, respectively) than wild populations (A = 9.14–10.71 alleles/locus, Ho = 0.71–0.74 and He = 0.74–0.78, respectively). The wild population from Thailand showed the highest allele richness (AR = 8.50 alleles/locus), whereas one of the three cultured Australian stocks had the lowest one (3.57 alleles/locus). Populations from Southeast Asia were more diverse genetically (A = 13.28, AR = 10.23, Ho = 0.72 and He = 0.78) than those from Australia (7.0, 6.56, 0.59 and 0.64, respectively) and Taiwan (7.35, 7.35, 0.66 and 0.68, respectively). Nearly three quarter (73.3%) of 90 private alleles were detected in populations from Southeast Asia. Genetic differentiation among populations/stocks was statistically significant (FST = 0.124, RST = 0.159, P < 0.05). Phylogenetic analysis showed that stocks from Australia clustered into one group, while the samples from Southeast Asian and Taiwan formed another group. All these data suggest significant genetic differentiation between Australian and Southeast Asian populations/stocks, and Australian populations contain only part of genetic variation of Asian seabass, which should be taken into account in aquaculture of Asian seabass. A total of 549 individuals from the four wild populations in Southeast Asia are being used in a selective breeding program.
  Aquaculture.