1. The SRO Breeding Program -
Update and Lessons for the Australian Oyster Industry
Insert MU, USC and UoN logos
Check names
2019 Shellfish Futures, 16-17th August 2019

2. The SRO Breeding Program -
Update and Lessons for the Australian Oyster Industry
Multidisciplinary research and many collaborators
Acknowledge authors
M. Dove, P. Kube, C. Lind, V. Cumbo, W. O’Connor, M. Saowaros, A. Elizur, R. Seeto, Z. Gibb, T. Abramov, D. Raftos, E. Wilkie, SOCo and SCS
2019 Shellfish Futures, 16-17th August 2019

3. Future Oysters CRC-P: Accelerated SRO Breeding Research
Project collaborators:
NSW DPI, CSIRO, Macquarie University & SOCo
Objectives:
More families
Increase QX resistance
Understand winter mortality
Markers for QX resistance

4. Accelerated SRO Breeding Research Outcomes
Double family production
Improvements to protocols, facilities, husbandry and training
One year breeding cycle for QX resistance
doubles the gain
Required understanding of:
Genetic architecture of traits
SRO reproduction and QX disease cycles
Logistical changes
Narrowed it down to 9 genes that are informative at predicting whether individual oysters are disease reistant

5. Accelerated SRO Breeding Research Outcomes
Better understanding of winter mortality disease (WM)
WM is enigmatic
More sites and more tests:
Georges and Shoalhaven Rivers
Spat and adults
No correlation with other traits
Has low to moderate heritability
We can improve WM resistance with breeding
WM resistance
Genetic characteristics of WM expression are not well understood
WM disease expression has been low and inconsistent
Winter mortality resistance:
low to moderately heritable
responsive to selection
is a trait of interest to the SRO BP
not currently part of the long term breeding objective of the SRO BP
No correlations have been found between WM resistance and other traits under selection
Best estimates of WM resistance were from Quibray Bay using 1 year-old oysters
Future:
Continue WM field exposure trials of 1 year-old oysters at Quibray if resources permit
Can respond if a significant WM outbreak occurs

6. Future Oysters CRC-P: New Technologies to Improve SRO Breeding & Production
Project collaborators:
NSW DPI, University of the Sunshine Coast,
University of Newcastle, SOCO, SCS
Objectives:
Increase SRO breeding reliability
Reduce conditioning time
SRO Tetraploids

7. New Technologies to Improve SRO Breeding & Production
Improve SRO family success:
Broodstock conditioning (USC)
maturation inducer
Natural gamete release (USC)
spawn inducer
Preserve gametes when spawning (UoN)
SRO tetraploid inductions (SCS)

10. SRO Breeding Program
The Goal
The Trials
The Logistics
The Progress

11. 1. The Goal Industry breeding objective:
70% survival through a QX disease outbreak (March 2020)
30% growth advantage compared to wild oysters (March 2021)
No difference in condition compared to wild oysters (March 2024)
target set by industry for a commercial product which is 70% survival through a QX disease outbreak, 30% growth advantage compared to wild oysters, and no difference in condition compared to wild oysters. Those targets will be met in one to five years, depending on the trait in question. The commercial release of oysters with 70% QX disease resistance is expected in March 2020, 30% growth advantage over wild oysters is in March 2021 and oysters with no change in condition is in March These time frames are conservative estimates and can be reduced by using a more aggressive selection strategy if required.

12. 2. The Trials QX disease resistance: Condition / growth / shape:
Georges River
Primary trait
Spat trial
Starts Feb. & survival in Jul.
Condition / growth / shape:
- Port Stephens
September to June
Assessments: Sep., Jan. & Jun.
Grow out sites are used to field test family performance.
This is called a ‘progeny test’
so a progeny test forms the basis for genetic evaluation
We judge a parents performance by measuring their offspring
And ALL relatives count (aunts, uncles cousins etc)
The progeny test needs to represent all regions if there is a genetic by environment (or G by E) effect present for a particular trait
FOR SROs we need progeny tests for all of our traits which are: QX disease resistance, WM disease resistance, growth, condition and shell shape
Progeny test sites: for the SRO program are as follows: (read info about the progeny test sites from the screen for QX disease resistance, Meat condition and Winter mortality resistance)
Winter mortality resistance
- Georges River
- 1 year-old trial
- March to December

13. Hawkesbury River Semi-Commercial Trial DPI / SOCo / Hawkesbury R
Hawkesbury River Semi-Commercial Trial DPI / SOCo / Hawkesbury R. Farmers
Mortality: July 2018 to
August 2019

14. 3. Logistics SRO BP requirements SRO BP schedule
What is needed to run the program?
SRO BP schedule
Important to maximise gains

15. Requirements (5 things)
Hatchery capable of producing 60 to 80 families per year:
skill set and facilities are not those available in a commercial hatchery
Broodstock holding facilities, including broodstock back-ups
Ability to run field testing trials:
Oyster growing sites and crews for: husbandry, measures and handling data
Data management system:
To handle large amounts of data and only available from a specialist
Quantitative genetics analyses to provide:
metrics for selection decisions,
inbreeding management, and
strategy formulation.
There are 5 key technical capabilities and facilities required for the SRO BP are:
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1. Hatchery capable of producing 60 to 80 families per year.
The skill set and facilities required are not those routinely available in a commercial hatchery.
2. Broodstock holding facilities, including broodstock back-ups.
3. Ability to run field testing trials, which includes
oyster growing site,
crews to provide the animal husbandry, and
crews capable of undertaking technical measurements and collecting large amounts of data.
4. Data management system, to routinely manage large amounts of data.
For selective breeding, these are not off the shelf products and need to be sourced from a specialist.
5. Quantitative genetics analyses to provide metrics for selection decisions, inbreeding management, and strategy formulation.

16. Schedule

17. Schedule

18. Schedule

19. Schedule

20. Schedule

21. 4. The Progress This table shows the way that the BP has been tracking
It essentially shows what the BP is doing
The table shows the genetic gain for each trait as an average for all families in that particular year class

22. 4. The Progress
Our QX disease resistance breeding has yielded an annual gain in QX resistance around 10-15% per annum

23. 4. The Progress
With selection for whole oyster weight we have been getting about a 5-10% gain in whole weight per annum
we have had difficulty in getting the biggest oysters to spawn and
And in the 2017 we were using families with wild grandparents to keep genetic diversity in the population which accounts for the lower value for growth for year class 2017

24. 4. Progress
These columns show the genetic gain for the top 8 families in each year class
If we are selecting families today to commercialise (that is the top 8 families in the BP) this is what we can provide now
These animals are of a spawnable size and age and this is what the breeding program can offer
Although we are still fine tuning aspects of the BP , This table tells us our annual expectation for each of our traits

25. 4. Progress
We can also check on how we are tracking towards the breeding objective.
We said that we would be able to offer 70% survival through a QX disease outbreak in the 2018 year class and oysters with 30% growth advantage compared to wild oysters and we are on track with delivering this goal

26. The SRO Breeding Program
Now operational
Further development:
family production, WM, QX markers
Lessons:
Provides the ability to respond to future needs & problems
Ensures industry sustainability into the future

27. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Future Oysters CRC-P & FRDC Oyster growers:
Bruce Alford, Chris and Dominic Boyton, Alan Brooks, Michael Brooks, Glenn Browne, John and Annette Collison, Gary Collison, Geoff Diemar, Rob Diemar, Bob, Len and Ted Drake, Keith Duggan, Bob Hill, David Maidment, Ewan McAsh, Kevin McAsh, Rob Moxham, Tony Troup, Steve Verdich.
Port Stephens Fisheries Institute Hatchery Staff:
Stephan O’Connor, Lynne Foulkes, Andrew Parnell, Mitch Elkins, Norm Lawler, Walter Scifleet. Also: John Nell, Ben Perkins and Ben Finn.
Acknowledgements