Genetics – Basic research
The genetics group at Matís conducts various basic research projects in collaboration with both domestic and foreign research institutions and companies. Matís has a long history of collaboration with the Marine & Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI), especially on the population genetics of commercial fish in Iceland such as herring, mackerel and Greenland halibut. Matís has also participated in research collaborations on genetic admixture between Langreyður and Steypireyður, genetics-based analysis of salmon migration routes and to search for capelin using environmental DNA (eDNA). In collaboration with the Freshwater Division of MFRI, Matís has worked on the population structure of Icelandic salmon, analyses of genetic admixture between farmed and wild salmon, and the development of a method for the detection of farmed salmon using single nucleotide polymorphism. Further, collaboration with MFRI includes large-scale environmental genomic studies (BioProtect, VS-eDNA) on the biodiversity of fish, marine mammals and invertebrates in the oceans around Iceland, which is intended to help inform on potential protection areas in the ocean.BioProtect, VS-eDNA) um líffræðilegafjölbreytileika fiska, sjávarspendýra og hryggleysingja í hafinu umhverfis Ísland en verkefninu er ætlað að hjálpa við skipulagningu verndarsvæða í hafi.
In collaboration with RORUM and the aquaculture industry, Matís has worked on projects using genetic methods to investigate the effects of sea pen farming on the benthic habitat beneath sea pens and the effects of rest periods on the benthic habitat. We are also working on projects to study salmon lice in seawater associated with sea pen farming using eDNA based methods, with the goal of being able to assess salmon lice loads in fish farms.
. . .
Selection of published articles by group:
Ingerid Julie Hagen, Kjetil Hindar, Geir Hysing Bolstad, Yann Czorlich, Ola H. Diserud, Bjørn Florø-Larsen, Davíð Gíslason, Kevin Glover, Leó Alexander Guðmundsson, Celeste Jacq, Guðbjörg Ólafsdóttir, Stig William Omholt, Monica Favnebøe Solberg, Sæmundur Sveinsson, Harald Sægrov, Kurt Urdal, Sten Karlsson. Genetic Markers for Tracing Introgression of Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) in Wild Conspecifics – (2025). Molecular Ecology Resources, e70065.
Hilmar J. Malmquist, Karl Gunnarsson, Davíð Gíslason, Sæmundur Sveinsson, Joana Micael, Sindri Gíslason. Sindraskel (Ensis terranovensis) – nýr landnemi í sjó við Ísland – (2024). The naturalist, 94(1-2).
Christophe Pampoulie, Aril Slotte, Guðmundur J. Óskarsson, Guðbjörg Ólafsdóttir, Jan Arge Jacobsen, Hóraldur Joensen, Sindri Karl Sigurðsson, Sæmundur Sveinsson, Leif Andersson, Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir and Davíð Gíslason. Discriminating populations of Atlantic herring mixing in the Norwegian Sea feeding ground using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – (2024). Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 739, 227-240. 10.3354/meps14619.
Christophe Pampoulie, Warsha Singh, Kristinn Guðnason, Birkir Bárðarson, Guðbjörg Ólafsdóttir, Þorri Þórarinsson, Sæmundur Sveinsson, Davíð Gíslason. Detection and distribution of the North Atlantic capelin (Mallotus villosus) using environmental DNA—comparison with data from the main fishery management survey – (2023). https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.415
Pampoulie, C., Gíslason, D., Ólafsdóttir, G., Chosson, V., Halldórsson, SD, Mariani, S., Elvarsson, B. Þ., Rasmussen, MH, Iversen, MR, Daníelsdóttir, AK, & Víkingsson , GA. Evidence of unidirectional hybridization and second‐generation adult hybrid between the two largest animals on Earth, the fin and blue whales. – (2020). Evolutionary Applications, August, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13091.
Gíslason, D., Helyar SJ, Óskarsson G., Ólafsdóttir G., Slotte A., Jensen T., Jacobsen JA, Ólafsson K., Skírnisdóttir, S., Dahle, G., Siegstad, H., Joensen H., Curti, KL, Grégoire, F., Masse, J., Sveinsson, S., Daníelsdóttir AK, Pampoulie C .. The genetic composition of feeding aggregations of the Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) in the central north Atlantic: a microsatellite loci approach (Scomber scombrus, L) – (2020). ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77, 604-612.
