GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF SHRIMP Penaeus vannamei AT SEA PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT (SPD): AN OVERVIEW OF NINE GENERATIONS OF SELECTION

Since Sea Products Development (SPD) first implemented a genetic selection program, shrimp lines have experienced significant increases traits of commercial interest such as growth rate, tolerance to diseases, reproductive ability, and endurance of the environmental pressures characteristic of intensive farming systems. To date, improvement continues at steady rates over the last nine generations (Fig 1). The program aims to maintain a healthy balance between the traits of interest and adequate genetic variation, with crucial emphasis on  biosecurity to maintain the Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) status of the lines. The program has resulted in SPF strains customized to the needs of the industry. Shrimp lines are selected with an index that results in strains selected specifically for systems where high growth, tolerance to intensive conditions, or tolerance to diseases are the primary concerns of the growers. These strains are exported to more than a dozen countries of Asia, Europe and the Americas, making SPD the most widely-distributed shrimp strains in the world.

Genetic work at SPD is enhanced with the support of molecular genetics at affiliated company  Prometheus Progeniture Genetics Technologies Ltd., allowing continued enhancement of the productivity of the lines utilizing state-of-the-art molecular markers and genomics.