Genome‐wide association study of morphometric and metabolic characteristics in European populations of the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima
Abstract
The sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is a promising candidate for sustainable aquaculture in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, but genetic improvement has been hindered by a limited understanding of the genetic basis of economically important traits. We conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) for this species using 202 self‐fertilized pseudo‐F1 individuals derived from 12 of 13 sampled populations spanning northern and southern European genetic clusters. Individuals were genotyped with ddRAD‐seq‐derived single nucleotide polymorphism markers and phenotyped in a common‐garden experiment for four morphological traits (blade length, blade width, blade area, and stipe length) and six metabolic traits related to nitrogen metabolism. We identified 18 significant marker–trait associations, with individual loci explaining 1.37% to 10.93% of phenotypic variance (PVE). Rather than major‐effect quantitative trait locus (QTL), the associated loci each accounted for a small‐to‐moderate proportion of trait variance, the largest being for nitrogen‐metabolism traits (up to 10.93% PVE), and a single locus on chromosome 17 influenced both blade length and blade area. Marker‐based heritability was high for morphological traits (0.75–0.99) but ranged widely for metabolic traits (0–0.99), with large standard errors throughout. Cross‐validated genomic selection models yielded predictive abilities of 0.21–0.59 across traits, the only exception being for protein content, for which both heritability and predictive ability were effectively null. Overall, these results indicate a mixed genetic architecture, comprising moderate‐effect loci amenable to marker‐assisted selection and polygenic traits better suited to genomic selection, and they provide a foundation for genomics‐assisted breeding in kelp aquaculture.
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BibTeX
@article{mauger2026genomewide,
title = {{Genome‐wide association study of morphometric and metabolic characteristics in European populations of the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima}},
author = {Stéphane Mauger and Komlan Avia and Lucie Jaugeon and Paolo Ruggeri and Zofia Nehr and Ousseini Issaka Salia and Jérôme Coudret and Emilie Gouhier and Aurélien Baud and Stéphane Loisel and Antoine Fort and Ronan Sulpice and Christophe Destombe and Philippe Potin and J. Mark Cock and Myriam Valero},
journal = {Journal of Phycology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1111/jpy.70239},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05769288v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Genome‐wide association study of morphometric and metabolic characteristics in European populations of the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima
AU - Stéphane Mauger
AU - Komlan Avia
AU - Lucie Jaugeon
AU - Paolo Ruggeri
AU - Zofia Nehr
AU - Ousseini Issaka Salia
AU - Jérôme Coudret
AU - Emilie Gouhier
AU - Aurélien Baud
AU - Stéphane Loisel
AU - Antoine Fort
AU - Ronan Sulpice
AU - Christophe Destombe
AU - Philippe Potin
AU - J. Mark Cock
AU - Myriam Valero
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
JO - Journal of Phycology
DO - 10.1111/jpy.70239
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05769288v1
AB - The sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is a promising candidate for sustainable aquaculture in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, but genetic improvement has been hindered by a limited understanding of the genetic basis of economically important traits. We conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) for this species using 202 self‐fertilized pseudo‐F1 individuals derived from 12 of 13 sampled populations spanning northern and southern European genetic clusters. Individuals were genotyped with ddRAD‐seq‐derived single nucleotide polymorphism markers and phenotyped in a common‐garden experiment for four morphological traits (blade length, blade width, blade area, and stipe length) and six metabolic traits related to nitrogen metabolism. We identified 18 significant marker–trait associations, with individual loci explaining 1.37% to 10.93% of phenotypic variance (PVE). Rather than major‐effect quantitative trait locus (QTL), the associated loci each accounted for a small‐to‐moderate proportion of trait variance, the largest being for nitrogen‐metabolism traits (up to 10.93% PVE), and a single locus on chromosome 17 influenced both blade length and blade area. Marker‐based heritability was high for morphological traits (0.75–0.99) but ranged widely for metabolic traits (0–0.99), with large standard errors throughout. Cross‐validated genomic selection models yielded predictive abilities of 0.21–0.59 across traits, the only exception being for protein content, for which both heritability and predictive ability were effectively null. Overall, these results indicate a mixed genetic architecture, comprising moderate‐effect loci amenable to marker‐assisted selection and polygenic traits better suited to genomic selection, and they provide a foundation for genomics‐assisted breeding in kelp aquaculture.
SN - 0022-3646
SN - 1529-8817
ER -