Sure ewest!

We've developed panels of SNP markers linked to Florida or Northern ancestry. Florida bass for example at Marker 1 will be fixed or diagnostic for the "A" allele (i.e. it will have an AA genotype, while Northern bass will be fixed for the "T" allele (TT genotype). A true F1 bass resulting from crossing the two will have one allele from each parent and have an "AT" genotype for that particular marker (a heterozygote).

We typically run a panel of 38 SNP diagnostic markers distributed around the genome. While natural FL/N intergrade bass have some heterozygous (e.g. "AT") markers naturally, these levels remain around 50% naturally. A true F1, on the other hand, should be 100% heterozygous across all tested markers, and therefore, are easy identify. It's this high degree of heterozygosity that's linked to hybrid vigor and better performance. On the other hand, "F1s" created with less than pure FL and N parents, have reduced heterozygosity and reduced performance.

The genetic testing provides you a readout for each fish on what % FL, % Northern, % Heterozygous markers, and % Homozygous markers, Genotype (pure FL, pure N, F1, Fx, etc). With 38 diagnostic markers we can give a very accurate read of what's in a largemouth bass, ancestry-wise, compared to earlier allozymes and microsatellite markers.

Some questions you might want to answer...did I get the fish I just paid for; what's in this old pond?; did my stocking change the genetic structure of this pond 1, 2, 5 years on; I'm catching some huge fish, are these Floridas, F1s?

We just need a small non-lethal fin clip or you can even swab your bass and mail us a swab (if you don't want to clip a fin). We mail out sampling tubes and swab paks upon request. Turnaround time is ~2 weeks for results, but we can get results out in less than 2 days if needed. We've run the assay on thousands of bass to-date and are routinely checking several of the major bass hatcheries. We're a non-profit university service, so the fee just goes to covering lab expenses and supporting other bass genetic research.


Anyhow, probably more than folks wanted to know! Let me know if you have questions.