Acronym AQUAGENET
Category
Marine Biotechnology
Title Transnational network of biotechnology in aquaculture Programme Interreg IV
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
Strand B
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
South West Europe (SUDOE)
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source European Coordinator Manuel Manchado Coordinator email manuel.manchado@juntadeandalucia.es
Coordinator institution
IFAPA - Andalusian Institute of Agricultural Research and Training , Fisheries , Food and Organic Production (Spain)
Institutions involved
IFREMER - French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (France) ,
NA - GCE Blue Maritime Cluster (Norway) ,
INRB - National Institute of Biological Resources, IP (Portugal) ,
UB - University of Barcelona (Spain) ,
UCA - University of Cadiz (Spain) ,
Start year 2011 End year 2013 Funding (€) € 2,133,386 Website https://keep.eu/projects/2592/Red-transnacional-de-biotecn-EN/ Summary Aquaculture and biotechnology are two strategic sectors in the SUDOE area. The reduction in world fisheries due to overfishing, climate change, disease, pollution, etc. has boosted aquaculture production activity. European policies recognize the relevance of developing a sustainable aquaculture sector to promote richness, stable employment and economic activity as well as to ensure the availability of high-quality marine food for the population. However, aquaculture requires a highly technical and qualified sector that must meet the diverse range of species being cultured (fish, molluscs, ?) under a wide spectrum of production systems (from traditional extensive farms to high intensive nets in open sea). Biotechnology is an area that has grown significantly in the last years. Moreover, it is an area that evolves very quickly making new powerful tools available for researchers and producers in a relatively short time. The application of these advances in the animal production activities is a way to increase the competitiveness and profitability of the sector and maintaining viability of these highly-competitive sectors. Although important efforts have been made in recent years to developing biotechnology in aquaculture, the advent of new biotechnological tools which can be applied by the sector and which offer new advantages to the aquaculture sector have made it necessary to convene specialized and complementary teams that can collaborate in target species for the SUDOE area. These teams can join efforts to advance in the knowledge and improvement of aquaculture conditions. AQUAGENET project intends to establish a stable transnational network for cooperation in biotechnology applied to aquaculture in the SUDOE region. During the project, novel biotechnological techniques such as the new generation sequencing techniques (NGS) will be implemented to produce new genomic resources in seven species of relevance for aquaculture (sole (Solea spp), oyster (Crassostrea sp.), carpet shell clam (Ruditapes decussatus), Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the pathogens Photobacterium damselae piscicida, herpes virus and Bonamia exitosa). The knowledge generated by the project will be of interest to the aquaculture industry and will be communicated via dissemination, technology transfer and training activities in the implementation of new biotechnological information. To achieve the objectives, seven GT have been formed. The GT1, GT6 and GT7 are in compliance with the project call. GT2 involves all partners and it deals with the implementation of novel NGS in the target species of this project to achieve high-throughput results for genomic resources. The GT3, GT4 and GT5 have been organized around the main species considered in the project; fish, molluscs and pathogens, respectively. Joint studies to advance in the knowledge of relevant issues for aquaculture of these species will be performed. From these studies important deliverables will be achieved. AQUAGENET will contribute to create a network of collaboration between highly qualified teams in three countries from the SUDOE area. Particularly, for fish, new vaccines will be designed which represents an important advantage for sole aquaculture. Moreover, physiological studies about sex and reproduction will help to bypass the current bottleneck in sole aquaculture. Interactions with the environment will be studied providing new information to make aquaculture more sustainable and in meeting health, welfare and safety standards required in animal production. For Molluscs, advances in population studies and species identification will contribute to preserve and manage genetic resources. Moreover, the application and design of new biotechnological tools to breeder management is a novel that requires further investigation. Finally, the study of population studies of parasites distributed in the SUDOE area will contribute to make recommendations about a coordinated management to fight against these diseases. Moreover, dissemination and technology transfer of the results will improve competitiveness of the sector throughout high-qualified knowledge representing a competitive advantage to warrant a long-term activity.
(1) Set up of a stable transnational network for cooperation in biotechnology applied to aquaculture in SUDOE region; (2) Develop new genomic resources in aquacultured species using NGS. T; (3) Use and application of developed resources to case studies. T; (4) Cooperation strengthen between the stakeholders and industry.
Keywords
Genomic sequencing;
Bacteria;
Grooved carpet shell;
Vaccines development;
Genetic;
Selective breeding;
Oyster;
Parasite;
Bivalve;
Fish;
Flatfish;
Mollusc;
Mussel;
Sole;
Shellfish;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
Marine Region Map
