Surrogate broodstock to enhance biotechnology research and applications in aquaculture

Abstract

Aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in meeting global demands for seafood, particularly in low and middle income countries. Genetic improvement of aquaculture species has major untapped potential to help achieve this, with selective breeding and genome editing offering exciting avenues to expedite this process. However, limitations to these breeding and editing approaches include long generation intervals of many fish species, alongside both technical and regulatory barriers to the application of genome editing in commercial production. Surrogate broodstock technology facilitates the production of donor-derived gametes in surrogate parents, and comprises transplantation of germ cells of donors into sterilised recipients. There are many successful examples of intra- and inter-species germ cell transfer and production of viable offspring in finfish, and this leads to new opportunities to address the aforementioned limitations. Firstly, surrogate broodstock technology raises the opportunity to improve genome editing via the use of cultured germ cells, to reduce mosaicism and potentially enable in vivo CRISPR screens in the progeny of surrogate parents. Secondly, the technology has pertinent applications in preservation of aquatic genetic resources, and in facilitating breeding of high-value species which are otherwise difficult to rear in captivity. Thirdly, it holds potential to drastically reduce the effective generation interval in aquaculture breeding programmes, expediting the rate of genetic gain. Finally, it provides new opportunities for dissemination of tailored, potentially genome edited, production animals of high genetic merit for farming. This review focuses on the state-of-the-art of surrogate broodstock technology, and discusses the next steps for its applications in research and production. The integration and synergy of genomics, genome editing, and reproductive technologies have exceptional potential to expedite genetic gain in aquaculture species in the coming decades.

Advancement in Aquaculture System by Applying Biotechnological Tools

“…While using this approach, Okutsu et al (2007) and Takeuchi et al (2004) were able to efficiently form masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) producing rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus) mykiss reproductive cells. There are two key phases in surrogate broodstock technology: (i) Collection and fortification of germline stem cells (GSCs), the progenitors of gametes, and (ii) implantation of GSC into barren receivers (Jin et al 2021). By use of surrogate bloodstock technology has significant prospects to expand the breadth and effectiveness of genetic modification studies in farmed fish.…”

Sustainable use of CRISPR/Cas in fish aquaculture: the biosafety perspective

“… In many aquatic species, the generation interval is rather long, which makes the acquisition of mutated homozygous individuals rather time-consuming during GE process. However, it is a possible solution to combine GE with surrogacy technology (Jin et al 2021 ). Sterile organism is especilly favored during commercial application due to these two reasons: protection of intellectual property and the avoidance of GE individuals' invasion into wild population.…”

“…In many aquatic species, the generation interval is rather long, which makes the acquisition of mutated homozygous individuals rather time-consuming during GE process. However, it is a possible solution to combine GE with surrogacy technology (Jin et al 2021 ).…”

Applications of Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture: a Mini-Review

“…Biotechnology has emerged to have great practical applications in aquaculture, biotechnology has helped to maximize the growth and production in the aquaculture. Research is being continued in this field for better and harmless production of aquatic organisms suitable for human consumption [ 23 ].…”