The Spanish Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA) under the Andalusian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development has concluded mapping the sole genome. This work could represent a qualitative leap in the farming of this commercially valuable species. IFAPA led the work that combined very long DNA sequences and genetic markers and will serve as the basis for mapping markers and their distribution throughout the genome. The integration of the physical and genetic map opens up new possibilities for farming sole, a species of high economic value in Europe.
This research is of great interest, since it offers detailed information about genes that determine important traits such as growth rate. In addition, tools for chromosome mapping and kinship assignment, which are essential for genetic selection programs, have been validated. The results of this work, which has been carried out in collaboration with national institutions including the National Center for Genomic Analysis (CNAG-CRG), the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INT), the University of Malaga and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, have been published in the prestigious Scientific Reports magazine. IFAPA has been working in the field of sole aquaculture for 20 years in the hope of optimising production, in technological developments, strategies for disease prevention, improvement of diet and growth, and morphological quality parameters. The work carried out so far has been in close collaboration with the industry to help it optimise production and select the ideal fish for recirculation farms.