Development of fish species new to aquaculture: optimizing reproduction, growth and selection of high performance traits.

水产养殖新品种的开发：优化繁殖、生长和选择高性能性状。

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04980
• 负责人: Litvak, Matthew
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: Mount Allison University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=657730
• 关键词: Development; fish; species; new; aquaculture

Aquaculture production now represents a significant portion of all fish consumed. There has been unbelievable growth of an industry barely 30 years old. Aquaculture science is also very new and has yet to address many challenges associated with this industry. For example, unlike agriculture, very few breeding programs exist for fish production. One of the most difficult aspects of developing species for aquaculture is managing and producing high quality gametes that will produce fish with traits leading to "optimal performance" in an economic context. *Egg quality is an issue in aquaculture and is largely controlled by female diet. Space and time requirements for determining the effect of diet manipulation on egg quality are substantial, particularly for larger, longer-lived fishes. Consequently, developing broodstock diets is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Controlling nutrition at the level of the embryo has the potential to be a much more cost-effective means of managing egg quality. We have developed the first successful microinjection/manipulation system to control yolk size in living fish embryos. I propose to further modify this method, providing a fast and inexpensive approach for development of broodstock diets. I propose to manipulate essential fatty acid (EFA) profiles within developing zebrafish embryos. EFA's serve various essential functions in fishes. For example, DHA has been implicated as an EFA for normal development of nervous system, sensory organs, and eyes. We will alter the fatty acid profile of fish eggs by microinjection/manipulation of DHA and other essential fatty acids, such as EPA and ARA, to examine how they affect development, survival, and performance characteristics in zebrafish. This work will be the first step in developing a microinjection/manipulation protocol to contribute to development of broodstock diets for aquaculture. *Eggs are typically viewed as a limited resource while spermatozoa are considered unlimited. However, this is not necessarily the case; for many fish species only a limited quantity of spermatozoa are produced each breeding season. Therefore, to manage gamete use in a culture setting and understand recruitment in wild populations, we need to know how many spermatozoa are required to fertilize each egg, spermatozoa behaviour and longevity after exposure to water, and how long eggs are receptive to fertilization post-release. In this proposed work, we will focus on sperm and egg interactions in sturgeon. Sturgeon are among the most valuable and endangered fishes in the world. Currently, global supplies of caviar from wild harvesting and aquaculture operations are low and the resultant demand for this highly valued product has put further pressure on remaining wild sturgeon stocks. My students and I will focus on assessing sperm quality and sperm-egg interactions for three species occurring in Canada that are of both aquaculture and conservation interest: shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum), lake (A. fulvescens), and white (A. transmontanus) sturgeons. Implications of this work are two-fold. For production purposes, baseline data on sperm characteristics informs selection of high quality males for broodstock while research on sperm/egg interactions reveals sperm-to-egg ratios, contributing to effective gamete management. This work also provides insight into sex ratios required to sustain wild populations as well as information on reproductive strategies. Further development of sturgeon aquaculture will not only bring about economic gains, but will also alleviate pressure on wild populations, contributing to the conservation of these imperilled fishes. Three graduate students and 7 undergraduate students will be trained through funding for this research program.

目前，水产养殖产量占所有鱼类消费的很大一部分。这个成立仅 30 年的行业取得了令人难以置信的增长。水产养殖科学也是非常新的，尚未解决与该行业相关的许多挑战。例如，与农业不同，鱼类生产的育种计划很少。开发水产养殖物种最困难的方面之一是管理和生产高质量的配子，这些配子将产生具有在经济背景下“最佳性能”特征的鱼类。 *卵子质量是水产养殖中的一个问题，很大程度上由雌性饮食控制。确定饮食控制对卵质量的影响需要大量的空间和时间，特别是对于体型较大、寿命较长的鱼类。因此，开发亲鱼饲料是困难、耗时且昂贵的。在胚胎水平上控制营养有可能成为一种更具成本效益的鸡蛋质量管理方法。我们开发了第一个成功的显微注射/操作系统来控制活鱼胚胎中的卵黄大小。我建议进一步修改这种方法，为亲鱼饲料的开发提供一种快速且廉价的方法。我建议在发育中的斑马鱼胚胎中操纵必需脂肪酸（EFA）的分布。 EFA 对鱼类具有多种重要功能。例如，DHA 被认为是神经系统、感觉器官和眼睛正常发育的必需脂肪酸。我们将通过显微注射/操作 DHA 和其他必需脂肪酸（例如 EPA 和 ARA）来改变鱼卵的脂肪酸谱，以研究它们如何影响斑马鱼的发育、生存和性能特征。这项工作将是开发显微注射/操作方案的第一步，以促进水产养殖亲鱼饲料的开发。 *卵子通常被视为有限的资源，而精子则被认为是无限的。然而，情况并非一定如此；对于许多鱼类来说，每个繁殖季节只产生有限数量的精子。因此，为了管理培养环境中的配子使用并了解野生种群的补充，我们需要知道每个卵子受精需要多少精子、精子的行为和接触水后的寿命，以及卵子释放后接受受精的时间。在这项拟议的工作中，我们将重点研究鲟鱼的精子和卵子的相互作用。鲟鱼是世界上最有价值和最濒临灭绝的鱼类之一。目前，全球来自野生捕捞和水产养殖的鱼子酱供应量较低，对这种高价值产品的需求给剩余的野生鲟鱼种群带来了进一步的压力。我和我的学生将重点评估加拿大存在的三种具有水产养殖和保护意义的物种的精子质量和精卵相互作用：短吻鲟（Acipenser brevirostrum）、湖鲟（A. fulvescens）和白鲟（A. transmontanus）。这项工作的意义有两方面。出于生产目的，精子特征的基线数据有助于选择优质雄性作为亲鱼，而精子/卵子相互作用的研究则揭示了精子与卵子的比例，有助于有效的配子管理。这项工作还提供了对维持野生种群所需的性别比例的深入了解以及有关繁殖策略的信息。进一步发展鲟鱼养殖不仅能带来经济收益，也能缓解野生种群的压力，为濒危鱼类的保护做出贡献。通过该研究项目的资助，将培养三名研究生和七名本科生。