Acronym GENECLAM
Category
Aquaculture
Title Genetic variation of the carpet shell-clam Ruditapes decussatus in North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea Programme Nat. Programme (supported by ESIF)
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National-European Coordinator Frederico Miguel Mota Batista Coordinator email fmbatista@yahoo.com
Coordinator institution
UTAD - University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal)
Institutions involved
IBB - Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (Portugal) ,
IPMA - Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (Portugal) ,
CGB-UTAD - University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro; Centre of Genomics and Biotechnology (Portugal) ,
Start year 2010 End year 2013 Funding (€) € 187,492 Website http://www.polislitoralriaformosa.pt/downloads/forward/13_FIW_2011_FB_Native_species_genetics.pdf Summary The grooved carpet-shell clam Ruditapes decussatus is native to the Northern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea and it is a species with a high commercial, social and ecological value. The production of R. decussatus is mainly from aquaculture (approximately 80 %) but some of the production is still from capture fisheries. The culture of R. decussatus is mainly based on seed collected from the wild that is planted in man-made culture beds in the natural environment. There are several problems that affect the production of R. decussatus such as: (1) a high annual fluctuation in the availability of natural seed; (2) high mortalities of juvenile and adults often associated with parasitic diseases; (3) overfishing of natural populations, which affects the supply of seed; and (4) the expansion of the culture of the closely related species, the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. The insufficient knowledge about the genetic structure and diversity of R. decussatus and the few molecular markers available for this species impair the implementation of programmes and measures to overcome the problems mentioned above. The few population genetic studies that were carried out on R. decussatus were performed using allozyme markers and have focussed mainly on samples collected in the Mediterranean Sea. There are also very few DNA-based markers available for R. decussatus (1, 2) which is also the reason why genetic studies are scarce. Within the different DNA-based markers, microsatellites have been one of most used for the study of genetic variation in wild populations as well as for aquaculture genetics research (3). We plan to develop microsatellite markers for R. decussatus using three different approaches: (1) microsatellite-enriched genomic DNA libraries; (2) microsatellite derived from expressed sequence tags (in silico screening); and (3) cross-species amplification of microsatellites from closely related species. The different approaches used will ensure that several microsatellite markers will be developed. The utility and characteristics of the microsatellites developed for R. decussatus will be assessed for R. philippinarum. The genetic diversity and structure of R. decussatus populations from the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea (a total of 12 populations in 6 countries) will be determined using nuclear and mitochondrial markers. Moreover, genetic variation within and between annual cohorts of R. decussatus will be analysed using both nuclear and mitochondrial markers in Ria Formosa (Portugal), which is one of the main production areas of this species.
Determine the genetic diversity and structure of R. decussatus in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea using nuclear and mitochondrial markers.
Keywords
Genetic;
Bivalve;
Grooved carpet shell;
Shellfish;
Mollusc;
Genomic sequencing;
Open sea aquaculture;
Marine Region
62
Aegean Sea (GSA 22)
75
Northern Tunisia (GSA 12)
74
Northern Adriatic (GSA 17)
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
5
Marine Region Map
