Development of IMNV Resistant Heritable Transgenic Litopenaeus vannamei

Aquaculture stands as a potential solution for the long-term production of animal protein worldwide and is reported to achieve some of the highest feed-to-protein conversion ratios when compared to poultry, cattle, and pig farming. The shrimp aquaculture specifically, suffers from periodic and devastating disease outbreaks that continually limit crop yields. This effect stifles the development and reliability of this industry. The recently emerged shrimp virus, Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (IMNV) is of great concern for the shrimp industry as it results in large crop losses (greater than $100-200 million in traceable losses), and no significant effective control or resistance measures have been developed. This grant proposal aims to establish a new technological solution by means of heritable transgenic shrimp. The proposed heritable transgenic technology will enable the delivery of virus resistance traits into a cultured shrimp species, L. vannamei. Third party investigators will determine the effectiveness of the introduced resistance. The application of heritable transgenic viral resistant strains of shrimp will reduce the necessity of molecular viral screening, improve the predictability of crop yield, and contribute to a reduction of the transmission of viruses.