The interplay between inherited genes and how they affect the species’ adaptation to their environment is a mystery. But not for long, at least not for the Baltic herring. Leif Andersson, a geneticist at Uppsala University, has been awarded a SEK 26 million grant to delve into the genes that give herring such an incredible ability to adapt to widely different habitats – from the Atlantic to the Baltic Sea. And BalticWaters new fish research laboratory is an important piece of the puzzle for the project.
For a decade, Leif Andersson and his research team have sequenced the genomes of thousands of Atlantic and Baltic herring.
“For example, we have identified that the Baltic herring has a gene that affects a specific light receptor in the retina that makes it see better in the dark waters of the Baltic Sea, compared to Atlantic herring,” says Leif.
But there are many more connections between the Baltic herring’s genes and characteristics that are currently a mystery. Thanks to a grant of SEK 26 million from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Leif and his team will now be able to continue their work. Among other things, they will investigate which genes affect the herring’s adaptability to living in the low salinity of the Baltic Sea, spawning at different seasons and living in different temperatures. The research will provide important knowledge about the Baltic herring’s ability to adapt to climate change and can contribute to more sustainable fisheries management.
“The establishment of BalticWaters new fish research laboratory was a catalyst for applying for project funding. The lab is exactly what we need to study in depth the interaction between genetic variation and adaptation to the environmental conditions of the Baltic Sea,” says Leif.
Leif’s project will also be the first external project to start up at the laboratory when it is completed.
Leif Andersson. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
“It will be the first time that a fish research laboratory will attempt to keep Baltic herring on a large scale, get them to spawn and hatch small herring larvae. It’s both exciting and challenging, and above all crucial for carrying out the important research that Leif and his research team are planning,” says Konrad Stralka, Executive Director, BalticWaters.
The project CLUPEA -unravelling molecular mechanisms behind adaptation to environmental heterogeneity and change will run for five years starting in the second half of 2025. BalticWaters fish research laboratory outside Nyköping will be a central resource for the project. The laboratory is the first and largest of its kind in the Baltic Sea region and is open to researchers and companies from all over the world who want to research Baltic Sea fish such as cod, herring and turbot at all life stages – from eggs to adult fish.
