Improve the genetic resistance against PD and HSMI

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

With this project, we want to increase the Atlantic salmon's resistance to HSMI and PD. We currently select for resistance to both traits in our breeding programme, and we apply particularly strong selection on behalf of customers who want particular focus on the two traits. However, the possibilities of genome-informed breeding is expanding rapidly, and selective breeding is by nature a field where the target (better performance) is always moving. As such, the aim of the project is to improve AquaGen's products related to HSMI and PD. Broadly speaking, we want to make our marker-assisted and genomic selection for HSMI- and PD resistance more precise by applying more data, more effective challenge models, novel ways of doing phenotyping, and novel genomic data in the form of whole-genome sequences. In particular, we want to understand why and how one region on chromosome 3 affects both HSMI and PD, but in slightly different ways. This can reveal novel insight into how the immune system works and how resistance is created.