SEAFDEC/AQD Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center | Aquaculture Department
By Development Communication Section / MRR Eguia
SEAFDEC/AQD scientist Dr. Maria Rowena Eguia attended the International Symposium of Genetics in Aquaculture XII (ISGA XII) to present a poster paper “Genetic assessment of Philippine milkfish (Chanos chanos) stocks based on novel microsatellites for marker-aided broodstock management” from 21 to 27 June 2015 in University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain.
The conference’s sessions have presentations by invited experts on various topics like (a) breeding programs, (b) environmental risks, (c) genomes and genetic architecture, (d) genomic selection and marker assisted selection, (e) functional genomics, (f) sex control and (g) biotechnology. The oral presentations were mostly about ongoing genetics projects/programs involving several agencies. A total of 181 poster presentations were viewed, including Dr. Eguia’s, during the conference.
Dr. Eguia’s presentation covered the results of the research collaboration between SEAFDEC/AQD with herself & scientist Dr. Evelyn Grace Ayson, University of the Philippines – Institute of Biology professor Dr. Zubaida Basiao & instructor Mr. Brian Santos and Tohoku University professor Dr. Akihiro Kijima & associate professor Dr. Minoru Ikeda. The study was funded by the Department of Science and Technology.
Apart from the oral and poster presentations, two workshops were conducted. Field trips were also made to a mussel grow-out facility, which also featured scallops and oysters; Stolt Sea Farm SA Facilities, one of the leading farms that produce the flatfish turbot in Europe and Santiago de Compostela historical sites.
Dr. Eguia was very interested in listening to updates in aquaculture genetics. “One good thing about having to learn about these advances during ISGA XII was that fact that applications of current DNA technologies in commercial aquaculture were not only confined to population assessment studies which are known as prerequisites to selective breeding and ecological genetics but also to aquatic health management in that several selective breeding programs are now using genomic approaches in selecting specific pathogen-resistant stocks. Disease being the major concern in many aquaculture industries,” she shared.
