Predictive phenotyping
Phenomics to forecast a resistant future
The increasing contribution of aquaculture to human food production is a worldwide phenomenon. As aquaculture systems mature, breeding programs to improve seedstock and livestock lines are being established. Availability and affordability of genetic/genomic tools used in selective breeding programs have advanced extremely rapidly. In contrast, evaluation of performance benefits of selective breeding remains a bottleneck, leading to development of the "phenomics" concept. Phenomics seeks to improve the efficiency with which desirable traits, generally survival and growth characteristics, are detected. Emulating advancements in crop agriculture, this project will employ a novel implementation of rapid predictive phenotyping of oyster larvae to bolster breeding programs across the US. Open-access granular phenotype data will refine breeding decisions and improve how industry selects broodstock and farm sites for their offspring.
Funded by USDA NIFA (Accession # 1033914) “Development of scalable, predictive phenotyping tools to improve east/west coast oyster breeding”
