SBIR Phase I: High Throughput Cryopreservation of Aquaculture Seed

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to advance cryopreservation technologies for the development of a seed banking product for commercially important aquaculture species. Genetic banking of plant cells, tissues, seeds, and embryos is common practice in agriculture to ensure important genetic lines are not lost due to disease outbreak or environmental catastrophe. However, genetic banking of embryos and larvae within the aquaculture industry is nonexistent to date, and the investments made toward genetic improvements are susceptible to catastrophic loss without a proper seed banking product. The inability to reliably preserve seed for long periods of time is currently a barrier to the formation of an aquaculture seed storage product. This research will enhance scientific and technological understanding for the cryopreservation of aquatic organisms and be a transformative step to protect genetic resources vital to the commercial aquaculture industry. These technological advancements also can be adapted for the conservation of threatened or endangered aquatic organisms important to food security and ecosystem health domestically and abroad. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a technology to implement a genetic banking product that allows aquaculture facilities to "cryobank" thousands of seeds from family lines developed over years of selective breeding programs. Recent advancements in rapid cooling for storage at liquid nitrogen temperatures (-196 degrees C) and ultra-rapid rewarming (~107 degrees C/min) have led to major breakthroughs in cryopreservation research. These advancements will be utilized to develop a low throughput, high efficacy strategy for the successful cryopreservation of an important aquaculture species, Litopenaeus vannamei or Pacific white shrimp. Protocol optimization for cryoprotective agent loading/unloading, vitrification, and ultra-rapid warming will result in high revival, survival, and grow out to post larval stages. Once proven, the technique will be scaled up to develop a high throughput process to successfully cryopreserve >10,000 samples per day. This technology will enable the commercial aquaculture industry to conserve important genetic strains and stockpile cryopreserved seed at the levels necessary to avoid interruptions to food supply commonly caused by disease outbreaks and environmental catastrophe. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.