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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Orono, Maine » National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center » Research » Research Project #437429

Research Project: Genetic Improvement of North American Atlantic Salmon and the Eastern Oyster for Aquaculture Production

Location: National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center

2020 Annual Report


Accomplishments
1. Improved North American Atlantic salmon genetic selection tools. Commercial salmon farms are expected to increase 5-fold over the next three years. There is a need for an Atlantic salmon breeding program to support this industry increase. ARS researchers at Franklin, Maine, and Leetown, West Virginia, have created an improved genome reference for North American Atlantic salmon. The new chip will aid in the discovery of genetic markers for commercially valuable traits in North American Atlantic salmon. The new chip has already attracted interest from commercial breeding companies using salmon of North American origin and from companies that provide biotechnology and diagnostic services to the aquaculture industry.


Review Publications
Proestou, D.A., Sullivan, M. 2019. Variation in global transcriptomatic response to Perkinsus marinus infection among Eastern oyster families highlights potential mechanisms of disease resistance. Fish and Shellfish Immunology. 96:141-151.
Peterson, B.C., Burr, G.S., Pietrak, M.R., Proestou, D.A. 2020. Genetic improvement of North American Atlantic salmon and the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center. North American Journal of Aquaculture. 82:321-330.
Peterson, B.C., Chatakondi, N.G. 2020. Efffects of handling methods on cortisol response and reproductive performance to produce hybrid catfish fry. North American Journal of Aquaculture. 82:153-158.
Gao, G., Pietrak, M.R., Burr, G.S., Rexroad III, C.E., Peterson, B.C., Palti, Y. 2020. A new single nucleotide polymorphism database for North American Atlantic salmon generated through whole genome re-sequencing. Frontiers in Genetics. 11:85. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.00085.
Good, C., Davidson, J., Straus, D.L., Harper, S.B., Marancik, D., Welch, T.J., Peterson, B.C., Pedersen, L., Lepine, C., Redman, N., Meinelt, T., Liu, D., Summerfelt, S. 2020. Assessing peracetic acid for controlling post-vaccination Saprolegnia spp.-associated mortality in juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in freshwater recirculation aquaculture systems. Aquaculture Research. 00:1-4. https://doi.org/10.1111/are.14567.
Pietrak, M.R., Rosser, T.G. 2020. Morphologic and molecular characterization of Gyrodactylus cyclopteri Scyborskaja, 1948 from Cyclopertus lumpus L., 1758. Parasitology Research. 119:879-884. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06542-0.