Better conservation and management of fish stocks is on the horizon, after the completion of the brown trout reference genome by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators.
Better conservation and management of fish stocks is on the horizon, after the completion of the brown trout reference genome by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The genome will help settle a longstanding debate about whether the physically-varied brown trout is actually a single species or several, and give insights into their ability to quickly adapt to multiple environments.
The newly-sequenced brown trout genome will allow scientists and conservationists to better understand the genetic roots of this highly specialised species. It will enable researchers to identify any sub-species currently classified as brown trout, facilitating conservation efforts targeted at specific populations during a period of rapid climatic change.
Brown trout (Salmo trutta) are one of the most genetically diverse vertebrates. Taxonomists once classified the species as up to 50 distinct species*. Different populations have adapted to exploit particular biological niches, with some living their whole lives within a 200 metre stretch of freshwater stream while others migrate from the stream where they were born to the open sea.
Read more at Wellcome Sanger Institute
Image by Barbara Jackson from Pixabay
