Genome Biology of Maraena Whitefish (Coregonus maraena, BLOCH, 1779) for Preservation of Baltic Fish Biodiversity

Maraena whitefish (Coregonus maraena, BLOCH, 1779) is a high-quality salmonid food fish with considerable economical relevance in the Baltic area. Due to men-caused habitat loss and some unsustainable restocking activities over the last decades, natural reproduction of whitefish populations of the Southern Baltic in the adjacent Odra river basin (about 124,000 km²) has almost come to a halt. The fish is registered as vulnerable species on the IUCN red list. Aquaculture of local maraena whitefish populations is an option for the successful conservation of genetic variability and thus sustainable fisheries as well as preservation of Baltic fish biodiversity. However, modern, sustainable, and effective aquaculture approaches depend on molecular and immunologically well characterized robust and fast-growing maraena whitefish breeding lines. Doubtlessly, the utilization of genome sequencing techniques and the identification of genetic bioindicators can contribute to this aim. This, and unavailable gene or genome sequence information in databases for further research made the structural analysis of the maraena whitefish genome to a central goal of our research. In a comprehensive sequencing approach, we combined transcriptome sequencing (Roche 454 FLX Titanium), short-read genome sequencing (Illumina HighSeq) and long-read DNA sequencing (PacBio) of maraena whitefish. While genome sequence assembly is on its way, first results are presented and obstacles of this analysis are discussed. Based on sequencing data, we present recent results of our work on the development of efficient tools for functional genome analyses on maraena whitefish including the identification and validation of bioindicators for well-being.