Association of follistatin gene polymorphism with growth traits of fry common carp Cyprinus carpio L.

The present study was conducted at the Nutrition Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah. The study aimed to investigate the association of follistatin gene polymorphism with growth traits of fry common carp Cyprinus carpio L. The study lasted eight weeks (56 days). Results of sequencing and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) showed two genotypes AA and AG at the nitrogenous base 344 of the follistatin gene. Genotypes frequencies were 34.61% and 65.38% respectively. The growth parameters of common carp fish were studied, included body weight (BW), total length (TL), standard length (SL), head length (HL), body height (BH), caudal peduncle height (CPH), and eye diameter (ED). All growth parameters associated insignificantly with the two genotypes of follistatin gene during the experimental period. We can conclude from this study that the growth characteristics is not affected by the genetical differences between the genotypes. Study on larger samples of fish catches from different locations would give more truthful results in the application of the marker-assisted selection (MAS) strategy.