Research facility at Matre – for common-garden experiments

The research station, which is a full-scale aquaculture farm, is the core facility for the institutes experimental research on salmonids and is extensively equipped for studies of all life stages, both in fresh water (>400 fish tanks) and in sea water (tanks or sea cages – 2 marine rearing cites). The research station was upgraded in 2006, and the top modern facilities allows for both small and large-scale studies under highly controlled conditions. Among other things, our group has used this facility to conduct a very wide-range of common-garden studies on domesticated and wild Atlantic salmon ^{2-9,21,95,112-116}. Based upon these long-term studies, we have now produced what we think is the most extensive domesticated, hybrid, back-cross and wild population of salmon. This pedigree-controlled population is currently held at the facility and available for further experiments. It has for example helped elucidate the role of the vgll3 locus in determining maturation in salmon ¹¹⁷, and identify the manner in which the genome utilizes three sets of chromosomes ⁸.

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