Testing established methods of early prediction of genetic merit in abalone broodstock (Old ID 24872)
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
There is a need in the abalone industry to improve production animals. However, abalone are relatively slow growing animals and take several years to reach harvest size. This means that during the establishment of foundation broodstock populations it may be several years before the relative genetic merit of each of the broodstock can be determined and the first selection decisions made. Researchers at JCU have addressed this time-lag problem of obtaining accurate genetic estimated breeding values (gEBV) in other species. They have shown that broodstock gEBV can be estimated accurately from larvae as early as 18 days through the targeting of growth processes at the cellular level that predict genetic-determined long-term growth. This method is as yet untested in abalone, but if successful, has great potential in helping screen broodstock. This project will test the efficacy of this early prediction method in abalone. The impact of this early detection method would be to save costs by assisting in the selection of superior broodstock individuals which would produce faster growing offspring. Currently new broodstock animals are unevaluated with regard to their genetic merit.
Date
04 Jun 2018 - 31 Dec 2020
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
Abalone;Genetics
Funding Body
Fisheries Research & Development Corporation
Amount
85422
Project Team
Dean Jerry;Jose Domingos;Catarina Silva