- Develop the reference standards, methodologies, protocols and associated metadata requirements needed to advance and consolidate the state-of-the art in phenotyping shellfish and finfish.
- Survey the available genomic resources for major shellfish and finfish species, strategically fill gaps, and generate test and sample data sets needed to evaluate and harmonise pipelines and workflows for genetic marker discovery.
- Establish and assess the effectiveness of a Company Forum to act as a focal point for the industrial and academic communities in the field of genetic improvement of shellfish and finfish. The Forum aims to raise awareness of the resources and capacities available within the European Research Infrastructures, promote collaboration and knowledge transfer in order to accelerate the adoption of modern genetic tools in selective breeding programs.
Development of biological resources for the selective breeding of shellfish and finfish
WP8 constitutes a case study for biotechnological applications in the selective breeding of shellfish and finfish species, most of which are at the earliest stages of domestication. It has been estimated that 90% of global aquaculture production has yet to benefit from any form of genetic improvement. The explosion of new high throughput genetic sequencing technologies has dramatically reduced costs and stimulated research in this area with draft genome sequences already available for a number of shellfish and finfish of commercial importance. This has already resulted in new genetic tools for stock management used in family selection programs and the adoption of marker assisted selection for IPN and PD resistance and increased meat yield in Atlantic salmon.
WP8 will conduct a comprehensive survey of the genetic resources available for selective breeding in finfish and shellfish and develop industry standards and new pipelines for genetic marker discovery in order to ensure that industry benefits from the latest research.
Through involving the industry directly in the experimental stages a “bottom up approach” will be generated such that the results and protocols can be integrated directly into commercial processes. This knowledge will be shared with the industry via the “Company Forum” which will be open to the whole of the Aquaculture Industry and provide a platform for the discussion of results and the interaction of input direct from the users. The Forum aims to raise awareness of the resources and capacities available within the European Research Infrastructures, promote collaboration and knowledge transfer in order to accelerate the adoption of modern genetic tools in selective breeding programs.
The work package will be coordinated by Professor Ian Johnston (iaj@st-andrews.ac.uk), University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK) and the Company Forum will be led by Professor Chris Bridges(bridges@hhu.de) TUNATECH (Germany).
