Rainbow Trout Genome Sequenced

Using fish bred at Washington State University, an international team of researchers has sequenced the rainbow trout genome. It shows a unique doubling event that occurred 100 million years ago and is hoped will help further understand how vertebrates evolved. “Most of the duplicated genes get lost or modified so much that they are no longer recognizable as duplicates over time,” explains Gary Thorgaard, a co-author and WSU biologist. “In the trout and salmon we can see an earlier stage in the process and many duplicated genes are still present.”