Estimation of the Heritabilities for Body Shape and Body Weight in Yellow River Carp (Cyprinus carpio haematopterus) Based on a Molecular Pedigree

Estimation of the heritability for a given phenotype would provide basic information for potential breeding programs. As one of the most precious common carp strains, Yellow River carp was subject to selection for fast growth and a slender body to meet market demands. In the present study, heritabilities for body shape (body length, BL and body height, BH) and body weight (BW) were estimated based on a molecular parentage assignment for 750 progenies from 58 half-sib and full-sib Yellow River carp families. Eight highly polymorphic microsatellites were used for the construction of the molecular pedigree, and the average observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He), and the polymorphism information content (PIC) were 0.841, 0.792, and 0.763, respectively. All 750 progenies were successfully assigned to single parental pairs with 100% accuracy. Using the linear mixed model, the heritabilities were estimated to be 0.268, 0.338, and 0.340 for BL, BH, and BW, respectively. High phenotypic (0.831–0.927) and genetic (0.952–0.987) correlations among these three traits suggested that selection for BW could also largely affect the body shape and vice versa. Moderate heritabilities and high genetic corrections revealed by this study strongly indicate substantial potentials for genetic improvement of both growth rate and body formation in Yellow River carp breeding programs.