Project Number: 1930-31000-006-02
Project Type: Specific C/A

Start Date: Aug 29, 2002
End Date: Aug 27, 2007

Objective:
A major constraint to increasing the production efficiency of the Nation's cool and cold water aquaculture industry is the lack of genetically improved strains of fish for aquaculture. Although the main species currently produced by the industry, rainbow trout, has a long history of culture, most genetic research to date has emphasized applications for natural resource enhancement with little attention to the needs of commercial aquaculture. Consequently, there is only limited genetic information on traits that will enhance production efficiency and yield a better quality fish. Furthermore, the development and utilization of molecular genetic technologies for rainbow trout have been very limited. The lack of intensive emphasis in this area and in integrating the available information have resulted in a diffuse approach and little substantive progress in producing superior strains for aquaculture. The objective of this cooperative research project is to develop functional genome research tools for use in coordination with a genetic mapping approaches aimed at identifying genes affecting important aquaculture production traits in rainbow trout.

Approach:
The recent increase in publicly available expressed sequence tag data for rainbow trout has facilitated the development of functional genome tools for studying gene expression. This agreement will focus on the use of that data to study traits important to aquaculture production. Sequence data from the TIGR Rainbow Trout Gene Index will be used to identify unique transcripts and obtain representative oligonucleotide probes for inclusion onto high-density microarrays. These microarrays will be utilized in experiments to identify genes affecting embryonic development, stress response, feed efficiency, and disease resistance. Candidate genes which are identified as affecting traits of interest in these experiments will undergo further investigations including the development of quantitative PCR assays and characterization of genome and coding sequences. A second portion of the project will be aimed at the development of genetic markers for genetic mapping and for potential association with quantitative trait loci.

Project Team

Rexroad, Caird - Rexroad Jianbo Yao - Scientist 304-724-8340

Project Annual Reports

FY 2003

Related National Programs

Aquaculture (106)