Genetic solution or dilution: can selective breeding future-proof oysters?

该项目旨在测试养殖牡蛎的有益基因流入野生牡蛎是否可以使天然牡蛎床及其所支持的生态社区对环境变化更具弹性。野生牡蛎对沿海生态系统的功能至关重要。然而，野生牡蛎种群受到澳大利亚和世界各地环境变化的威胁。目前，在澳大利亚东海岸的许多河口，有选择地培育的具有抗应激基因型的牡蛎被商业化养殖，并可能被用来增加野生牡蛎的数量。该项目致力于开发新的遗传策略，以适应未来的牡蛎。因此，该项目的成果有可能使依赖牡蛎的整个生态系统受益。

This project aims to test whether the flow of beneficial genes from farmed oysters into wild oysters can make natural oyster beds and the ecological communities that they support more resilient to environmental change. Wild oysters are critical to the function of coastal ecosystems. However, wild oyster populations are threatened by environmental change in Australia and around the world. Selectively bred oysters bearing stress resistance genotypes are now commercially farmed in many estuaries on Australia's east coast and may be used to bolster wild oyster populations. This project endeavours to develop novel genetic strategies to future-proof oysters. Thus, the outcome of this project has potential to benefit entire ecosystems that depend upon oysters.