Genome assembly, transcriptome and SNP database for chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) is the species with the widest geographic range of the anadromous Pacific salmonids. Chum salmon is the second largest of the Pacific salmon, behind Chinook salmon, and considered the most plentiful Pacific salmon by overall biomass. This species is of significant commercial and economic importance: on average the commercial chum salmon fishery has the second highest processed value of the Pacific salmon within British Columbia. The aim of this work was to establish genomic baseline resources for this species. Our first step to accomplish this goal was to generate a chum salmon reference genome assembly from a doubled-haploid chum salmon. Gene annotation of this genome was facilitated by an extensive RNA-seq database we were able to create from multiple tissues. Range-wide resequencing of chum salmon genomes allowed us to categorize genome-wide geographic variation, which in turn reinforced the idea that genetic differentiation was best described on a regional, rather than at a stock-specific, level. Within British Columbia, chum salmon regional groupings were described at the conservation unit (CU) level, and there may be substructure within particular CUs. Genome wide associations of phenotypic sex to SNP genetic markers identified two clear peaks, a very strong peak on Linkage Group 15, and another on Linkage Group 3. With these new resources, we were better able to characterize the sex-determining region and gain further insights into sex determination in chum salmon and the general biology of this species.