Monday, January 31, 2011

Scientists close in on salmon virus resistance gene

UK - A team of UK researchers are closing in on a gene that affects resistance to a viral disease in Atlantic salmon.

The Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis (IPN) virus is a major killer in commercial salmon farming causing high levels of mortality in young salmon in all markets worldwide. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh (including the world renowned Roslin Institute) and the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling are collaborating with Geneticists at Landcatch Natural Selection Ltd (LNS), the UK-based International Salmon breeding company to find this gene.

The team were first to publish evidence of the presence of an IPN resistance gene in 2008; the beneficial version of the key gene appears to essentially prevent the death of salmon from IPN. For the first time in aquaculture, LNS used these results to apply marker-assisted selection, an advanced form of selective breeding, to improve resistance to IPN in their commercial strains.

The collaboration has continued with work underway to find the precise location of the gene in the salmon genome. New methods, based on the use of novel DNA sequencing technologies, were used to identify additional genetic markers, closer to the resistance gene. These improved Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers have recently been applied to families from the LNS breeding programme to select the most resistant fish for breeding. Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

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