Genetics of susceptibility and resistance to disease in fishes

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Abstract
The genetics of disease resistance in fish is examined. Major genes may cause skeletal or other phenotypic deformities and have also been implicated in the development of neoplasia. Others may affect viability through pleiotropic effects, or induce stress and therefore predispose to invasion by pathogens. Resistance usually appears, however, to be of a multifactorial nature. Variations in resistance between related species and between populations of the same species are described. In order to obtain an idea of the within‐population variation, heritability estimates have been obtained in some instances. Generally they are low, but may still indicate a sufficient level to be of use in a selection programme. The results of a limited number of selection programmes are described.