Aneuploid progeny of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, produced by tetraploid × diploid crosses: another example of chromosome instability in polyploid oysters

The commercial production of triploids, and the creation of tetraploid broodstock to support it, has become an important technique in aquaculture of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Tetraploids are produced by cytogenetic manipulation of embryos and have been shown to undergo chromosome loss (to become a mosaic) with unknown consequences for breeding. Our objective was to determine the extent of aneuploidy in triploid progeny produced from both mosaic and non-mosaic tetraploids. Six families of triploids were produced using a single diploid female and crossed with three mosaic and non-mosaic tetraploid male oysters. A second set of crosses was performed with the reciprocals. Chromosome counts of the resultant embryos were tallied at 2–4 cell stage and as 6-hour(h)-old embryos. A significant level of aneuploidy was observed in 6-h-old embryos. For crosses using tetraploid males, aneuploidy ranged from 53% to 77% of observed metaphases, compared to 36% in the diploid control. For crosses using tetraploid females, 51%–71% of metaphases were aneuploidy versus 53% in the diploid control. We conclude that somatic chromosome loss may be a regular feature of early development in triploids, and perhaps polyploid oysters in general. Other aspects of chromosome loss in polyploid oysters are also discussed.