National Broodstock Improvement Network (NBIN) by Cherdsak Virapat, NACA, Thailand

1. NATIONAL BROODSTOCK IMPROVEMENT
NETWORK (NBIN)
Technical Session I: Partnership and Investment in Agricultural Biotechnology
Regional Expert Consultation on Agricultural Biotechnology – Scoping Partnership to Improve Livelihoods of Farmers in
Asia-Pacific
Tuesday: May 29, 2018
Rama Garden Hotel and Resorts, Bangkok, Thailand
Doyle, Roger W.a
, Virapat, Cherdsakb
and Lal, Kuldeep K.c
a
President, Genetic Computation Ltd., Victoria BC, Canada, & Mentor in Genetics and Biodiversity, NACA
b
Director General, Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Bangkok, Thailand
c
Director, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, India

2.  Vision & Mission
NACA is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes rural
development through sustainable aquaculture and aquatic resources
management.
About NACA
NACA is formulated into a network and partnership to assist
member governments to implement action programmes, to
share knowledge, technologies and responsibilities among
institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region Countries for improving
the livelihoods of rural people, reduce poverty and increase
food security and for solving many common problems that
the countries of the region face in modernizing and
expanding aquaculture.

3. Current Members
Current 19 member Governments
Together produce >90% Global
Aquaculture Production
About 50% of global food fish supplies

4. Case study of biotechnology already in use (1):
HPLC TO INSPECT SHRIMP PRODUCTS FOR
ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES
 Thailand’s Department of Fisheries provided financial
investment of about US$ 10 on establishment of 22 raw
materials inspection centres along the coastal areas of
the country in 1997-1998.
 HPLCs have been used to inspect shrimp raw materials
and products for antibiotic residues of local shrimp
farms. These shrimp production were mainly exported
to U.S.A. and Japan.
 HPLC High Performance Liquid Chromotagraphy (HPLC)
is an analytical technique used for the separation of compounds
soluble in a particular solvent.

5. Case study of biotechnology already in use (2):
ADAPTIVE LEARNING IN SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE BEST PRACTICES
FOR SMALL-SCALE SHRIMP FARMERS IN THAILAND
 A biotechnological approach was adopted in dealing with PCR screening of
broodstock, shrimp larvae and monitoring for acute hepatopancreatic necrosis
disease (early mortality syndrome-EMS) during the grow out period.;
 These practices are in line with Thailand’s Department of Fisheries (DOF)’s
biosecurity measures and certification for shrimp hatcheries (FMD) and grow
out farms (GAP).
 PCR permits identification of non-cultivatable or slow-growing
microorganisms such as mycobacteria, anaerobic bacteria, or viruses from
tissue culture assays and animal models . Viral DNA can likewise be detected
by PCR.

6. CONCEPT: NATIONAL BROODSTOCK IMPROVEMENT
NETWORK (NBIN)
 NACA is proposing a strategy for genetic improvement called a
"National Broodstock Improvement Network", or NBIN, consisting of
partially interconnected but independently evolving broodstocks.
The NBIN broodstock network will:
(1) reduce farm-level inbreeding and its consequences for livelihoods,
disease prevalence and risk of epidemics;
(2) protect the gene pool of domesticated species, an irreplaceable global
resource, against further genetic erosion.
(3) facilitate local adaptations to climate change and other stressors.
These three objectives are closely related and introduce the next slide:
missing biotechnology.

7. The missing biotechnologies in aquaculture
We do not have technology that allows aquaculture to adapt
biologically to new and diverse local farming systems,
environments and consumer groups.
We are not developing biotechnologies that will sustain
Aquaculture’s long-term genetic capacity to adapt to future
challenges and opportunities
Aquaculture differs from most domesticated animals in its lack of
diverse “community-appropriate” adaptations.
Hardly anyone is seriously working on the biotechnology that is
crucial to filling this gap.

8. Carp broodstock market near Bogor, Indonesia
Case study of
missing
biotechnology
for
community-
level genetics

9. No comparable biotechnology or associations
are available to aquaculture breeders
Case study of
missing
biotechnology
(continued)

10. * Biotechnological techniques for exchanging
germplasm among communities at all scales without
risking disease.
* Biotechnological techniques for easily and cheaply
identifying diverse aquaculture “breeds” and verifying
their genetic quality and origin.
* Biotechnological techniques in lieu of pedigree for
inbreeding control. Pedigree records are not feasible in
smallhold aquaculture.
* Science-savvy breed associations modeled on those
for cattle, swine, dogs, horses, ornamental fish,
pigeons....
Conspicuously missing biotechnology in aquaculture

11. √ 1) How does inbreeding interact with disease?
(makes it worse and more frequent)
√ 2) Why is inbreeding accumulating?
(too-small broodstocks, transfers, breeder lock)
√ 3) Why did we not see the problem earlier?
(analysis problem, ignoring the real world)
√ 4) Is there any action we can take?
(verifiable genetic information for decision making,
especially by farmers. NBIN, to assist controlled, biosecure
exchange of genetic material.)
Is small-hold tropical aquaculture in a genetic
plunge towards extinction?

14. BREEDERS – full diversity
high quality, low inbreeding
HATCHERIES
copy
HATCHERIES
subsample
FARMS
restricted subsample
subsample
zero inbreeding inbred epidemics
Inbreeding caused by: “lock & copy” seed supply system
70% - 90% (?)10% - 30% (?)

15. NBC  BMC
BMC  farms
farms  copy
farms
0.002
0.0034
0.01
0.16
inbreeding
inbreeding
inbreeding
inbreeding
breeder
lock

17. WSSV
TSVa
TSVb
TSVc
Doyle, R.W., 2016. Inbreeding and disease in tropical shrimp aquaculture:
a reappraisal and caution. Aquaculture Research 47, 21-35.

18. CONCEPT: NATIONAL BROODSTOCK IMPROVEMENT
NETWORK (NBIN)
 The NBIN aquaculture genetic exchange network strategy
is complementary to, but very different from, a traditional
"Nuclear Breeding Centre" (NBC) strategy that has a single,
centralized breeding program and one or very few separate
gene pools.
 We emphasize that the NBIN aquaculture genetic exchange
network is a network of aquaculture gene pools, not a
network of institutions.
 To be more precise, it is a network for exchanging genetic
material (germplasm including broodstock, eggs, sperm
and perhaps nuclei) as well as information about gene
pools.

19. THE END