AquaIMPACT training course on Genomic Innovations for Aquaculture Breeding

AquaIMPACT organises a training course and welcomes aquaculture professionals and R&D staff involved in aquaculture breeding to Wageningen Campus in June. The training course focuses on the concepts of genomic selection and demonstrates the effects of applying genomic selection in breeding. Participants should be familiar with concepts of animal breeding and the application of genetic improvement in aquaculture.

Participation to the course is free. All other costs related to participation such as travel, accommodation and subsistence need to be covered by the participant.

Dates:
June 26-27, 2023

Venue:
Wageningen Campus

Registration:
Registration is closed.

Minimum/maximum number of participants:
Minimum participants : 10
Maximum participants : 35

Aim and learning goals:
The course focuses on the concepts of genomic selection and demonstrates the effects of applying genomic selection in breeding. Theory will be lectured, a practical computer exercise will allow the participants to experiment with the effects of genomic selection. During the course we will emphasize the effect of genomic selection on the main drivers of selective breeding; accuracy, generation interval, and selection intensity. Genomic tools will be presented as well as strategies to include them in fish breeding programs. All aspects are illustrated with examples from the AquaIMPACT project that applies genomic selection into practical experiments.

Target audience:
Participants should be familiar with concepts of animal breeding and the application of genetic improvement in aquaculture. The course is aimed at professionals and R&D staff involved in aquaculture breeding. Examples of genomic innovations during the course will be particularly relevant for the species that are targeted in the AquaIMPACT project (European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout).

Program description:
The course will consist of lectures, presentations of genomic selection implementation projects, a practical exercise. There will be ample time for the discussion of presentations and results. Part of the discussion is reserved for questions about application of genomic selection in aquaculture breeding that are be submitted by participants on the registration form.

Participants should bring a laptop with at the minimum a working copy of Microsoft Excel installed.

 

Provisional program (small changes are still possible):

Block 1: Monday afternoon
13:00 – 13:45 Lecture: Genomic relationships (A vs G)
14:00 – 15:00 Exercise (Excel): Accuracy with genomics compared to pedigree relatives
15:00 – 15:30 Break
15:30 – 17:00 Genomic Selection in practice – I

  • Accuracy of GS with GxE
  • multigenerational GS
  • GS for disease resistance
17:00 – 17:30 Questions

 

  Block 2: Tuesday morning
9:00 – 9:30 Lecture: Genomic Technologies
9:30 – 10:15 Genomic Selection in practice – II

  • GS with Selective Genotyping
  • DNA pooling in GS and GWAS
10:15 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 11:30 Lecture: Genotype imputation
11:30 – 12:00 Genomic Selection in practice – III

  • Imputation for genomic selection and GWAS
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch

 

  Block 3: Tuesday afternoon
13:00 – 13:45 Lecture: Breeding programs with genomic selection
13:45 – 14:30 Genomic Selection in practice – IV

  • Genomic selection for difficult traits (FE)
  • Benefit-Cost analysis of genomic selection
14:30 – 15:00 Groups: Potential for implementation of genomic tools in aquaculture breeding programs
15:00 – 15:30 Break
15:30 – 16:45 Lecture: Selected questions from participants
16:45 – 17:00 Evaluation and wrap up

 

Teachers:
John Bastiaansen, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Hans Komen, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Antti Kause, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland
Marc Vandeputte, INRAe, France
Binyam Dagnachew, Nofima, Norway
Christina Kriaridou, The University of Edinburgh

Organizers:
Wageningen University
AquaIMPACT consortium