1. Breeding for Stress Tolerance in Black Tiger Prawns
Sarah Berry
Prof. Dean Jerry, Dr Nick Wade, Dr Andrew Foote
Special thanks to sponsor

2. Overall objective
Determine if stress tolerance in prawns has a genetic basis and can be included as a trait in selective breeding programs
Selective breeding utilises natural variation within a population to increase performance with each generation. Applying genetic improvement programs will increase productivity to meet the increasing demand for seafood, particularly high value species like the black tiger prawn, Penaeus monodon. To develop a successful and sustainable selective breeding program there is essential research and development that needs to be conducted to understands how information like heritability, genotype-by-environment interactions and phenotypic acquisition techniques can be utilised.

3. Environmental stress costs $
Outcomes
Low temperature
Decreased immuno-competence
Gill-associated Virus (GAV)
White Spot Virus (WSSV)
Ammonia
Hydrogen Sulphide
Environmental stress causes significant crop loss in prawn farming globally. These losses often occur due to stress-related physiological processes which slow growth and/or lower the immune-competence of prawns. Stressors that are particularly relevant to the Australian prawn farming industry are unionised ammonia, hydrogen sulphide. There is potential reduce the impacts of stress on prawn farming using selective breeding technologies through the development of animals that are tolerant to environmental stress.
Whilst farmed prawn production continues to grow, there are environmental and farming issues that cause significant losses in global prawn production. These losses often occur due to stress-related physiological processes which slow growth and/or lower the immune-competence of prawns, increasing their likelihood of acquiring fatal diseases. If we are able to mitigate the effects of environmental stress there will be increased commercial production benefits including survival and overall crop yeild
Reduced:
growth
survival
feed intake
Decreased
productivity
Low Dissolved Oxygen
Other?

4. How to measure stress - Haemolymph
Total Haemocyte Count
Osmoregulatory Capacity
Oxyhaemocyanin
Total Protein & Glucose Concentration
Distributes oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and metabolites throughout the body. These blood constituents vary depending on physiological state conditions and hence are potential indicators of condition.
So I will be using hemolymph as my main tissue sample and this is because it distributes oxygen, nutrients, hormones, and metabolites throughout the body. These blood constituents vary depending on physiological state conditions and hence are potential indicators of condition and I will be assessing a number of markers for potential to be utilised as a cheap and effective tool for measuring stress levels of individuals, family groups and even shrimps in large scale grow-out ponds.
As Stress classically leads to a rapid onset and cascade of molecular and physiological responses. Molecular and biochemical indicators are good potential candidates since they respond to stress, as well as potentially offering specific information on the nature of the stressor and its mechanism of action

5. Research Workflow Commercial Outcomes
Develop an indicator of stress using hemolymph biochemical markers
Develop a reliable and repeatable protocol for inducing stress
Estimate heritability of stress tolerance traits
Commercial Outcomes
Breeding for stress tolerance shrimp
Development of an indicator of stress of shrimp for monitoring during day to day culture
My project will investigate how environmental stress effects a range of biochemical parameters within the prawn hemolymph (blood), with the aim of developing a reliable indicator of stress that is both cost-effective, commercially applicable and easy to apply. This information will be used to determine how animals respond to stress and how much of this stress response is due to heritable genetic traits that can then be used for selection. Using these traits for selective breeding has the potential to produce stress tolerant prawns that will have a positive impact for breeding purposes and commercial production.

6. Acknowledgements
Dean Jerry Nick Wade Andrew Foote Chris Stratford Tansyn Noble ARC ITRH group BIRC staff Aquaculture genetics group in Townsville Seafarms
My project will investigate how environmental stress effects a range of biochemical parameters within the prawn hemolymph (blood), with the aim of developing a reliable indicator of stress that is both cost-effective, commercially applicable and easy to apply. This information will be used to determine how animals respond to stress and how much of this stress response is due to heritable genetic traits that can then be used for selection. Using these traits for selective breeding has the potential to produce stress tolerant prawns that will have a positive impact for breeding purposes and commercial production.
Special thanks to
Fresh By Design