Journal or Publishing Institution: Canadian Journal of Zoology
Study: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z97-043#.W1dH8tJKiUk
Author(s): Farrell, A.P., Bennett, W. and Devlin, R.H.
Article Type: Peer Reviewed Study
Record ID: 670
Abstract: We examined the consequence of remarkably fast growth rates in transgenic fish, using swimming performance as a physiological fitness variable. Substantially faster growth rates were achieved by the insertion of an “all-salmon” growth hormone gene construct in transgenic coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). On an absolute speed basis, transgenic fish swam no faster at their critical swimming speed than smaller non-transgenic controls, and much slower than older non-transgenic controls of the same size. Thus, we find a marked trade-off between growth rate and swimming performance, and these results suggest that transgenic fish may be an excellent model to evaluate existing ideas regarding physiological design.
Citation: Farrell, A.P., Bennett, W. and Devlin, R.H., 1997. Growth-enhanced transgenic salmon can be inferior swimmers. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 75(2), pp.335-337.
