Mapping QTL for Resistance Against Viral Nervous Necrosis Disease in Asian Seabass

Viral nervous necrosis disease (VNN), caused by nervous necrosis virus (NNV), leads to mass mortality in mariculture. However, phenotypic selection for resistance against VNN is very difficult. To facilitate marker-assisted selection (MAS) for resistance against VNN and understanding of the genetic architecture underlying the resistance against this disease, we mapped quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance against VNN in Asian seabass. We challenged fingerlings at 37 days post-hatching (dph), from a single back-cross family, with NNV at a concentration of 9 × 106 TCID50/ml for 2 h. Daily mortalities were recorded and collected. A panel of 330 mortalities and 190 surviving fingerlings was genotyped using 149 microsatellites with 145 successfully mapped markers covering 24 linkage groups (LGs). Analysis of QTL for both resistance against VNN and survival time was conducted using interval mapping. Five significant QTL located in four LGs and eight suggestive QTL in seven LGs were identified for resistance. Another five significant QTL in three LGs and five suggestive QTL in three LGs were detected for survival time. One significant QTL, spanning 3 cM in LG20, was identified for both resistance and survival time. These QTL explained 2.2–4.1 % of the phenotypic variance for resistance and 2.2–3.3 % of the phenotypic variance for survival time, respectively. Our results suggest that VNN resistance in Asian seabass is controlled by many loci with small effects. Our data provide information for fine mapping of QTL and identification of candidate genes for a better understanding of the mechanism of disease resistance.