OCEAN ERA INC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.7

Description

Aquaculture expansion is a global imperative to address food security. Slow maturation of highlydesirable marine carnivorous finfish species is a major hindrance in the pursuit of geneticimprovement through selective breeding. Female Seriola (yellowtail) take four years to reachmaturity.The goal of this work is to identify methods of inducing precocious puberty in juvenile S.rivoliana.Phase I includes 6-month trials of hormonal application in 1-year-old S. rivoliana: one treatmentgroup of 17β-estradiol (E2) one of E2 and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and one control.Additionally we will analyze brain tissue of immature pubescent and mature specimens toidentify microRNAs associated with the onset of puberty for use in subsequent study.We anticipate upregulation of estrogen receptors in the brain and increased growth rate.Thesecriteria are precursors to female puberty indicating feasibility of achieving precocious puberty inPhase II.If validated these data will provide the foundation of a puberty induction regimen for S.rivoliana.Accelerated maturation is a commercially important ability with implications for selective breeding.Coupled with Kampachi Farms' ongoing identification of genetic markers for desirable traits inSeriola the proposed effort will allow more rapid production of broodstock with genotypes tailoredto efficient production and decreased ecological footprint (ie. through tolerance of plant-basedproteins). This research may be commercialized through Kampachi Farms' production partners andselling of genetically-improved broodstock for Seriola growers worldwide.