A NOVEL METHOD FOR ESTIMATING HERITABILITY USING MOLECULAR MARKERS

Heritability is usually estimated with individuals of known relatednes s generated using a controlled breeding programme or through response to selection. In this paper, we use two single-locus VNTR DNA fingerpr int markers in conjunction with a maximum likelihood method to infer r elatedness among pairs of individuals in a captive population of Pacif ic chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Patterns of relatedness inferred from the two DNA fingerprint markers were used to estimate he ritability for, and genetic correlations among, several economically a nd ecologically important traits (weight, length, flesh colour and pre cocious male maturation). Heritabilities ranged from 0.20 for weight, 0.38 for length, 0.67 for precocious male maturation ('jacking') to 0. 76 for flesh colour, which are in good agreement with estimates for sa lmonids generated using classical quantitative genetic methods. This m olecular marker-based method allows for the estimation of heritability in wild, long-lived species not easily manipulated for study using co ntrolled breeding programmes.