Super Shrimp Could Increase Yield and Prevent Disease

In a groundbreaking study in Nature's Scientific\r\nReports, the BGU group highlights the development of a 'super shrimp' which,\r\nfor the first time, only produces female offspring. The emergence of an\r\nall-female population could both increase aquaculture yields as well as serve\r\nas a natural agent to prevent the spread of harmful, water-bound parasites. Single-sex\r\nprawns could help alleviate poverty, reduce disease and protect the\r\nenvironment, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev\r\n(BGU) who have developed a monosex prawn that may make this winning trifecta\r\npossible.

In a groundbreaking study in Nature's Scientific\r\nReports, the BGU group highlights the development of a "super shrimp"\r\nwhich, for the first time, only produces female offspring. The emergence of an\r\nall-female population could\r\nboth increase aquaculture yields as well as serve as a natural agent to prevent\r\nthe spread of harmful, water-bound parasites. To achieve an efficient\r\nbiotechnology for all-female aquaculture in the economically important prawn\r\n(Macrobrachium rosenbergii), the researchers achieved—for the first time—WW\r\nmales using androgenic gland cells transplantation which caused full\r\nsex-reversal of WW females to functional males. Crossing the WW males with WW\r\nfemales yielded all-female progeny lacking the Z chromosome. The research is\r\nbeing conducted by BGU Prof. Amir Sagi, who also serves as a member of the\r\nNational Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN), and his Ph.D.\r\nstudent, Tom Levy, in collaboration with Enzootic, a Beer-Sheva,\r\nIsrael-based startup\r\ncompany specializing in all-female monosex aquaculture\r\nbiotechnologies.

"We were able to achieve the monosex population without\r\nthe use of hormones or genetic modifications and thus address two major\r\nagricultural considerations: monosex populations and ecological concerns,"\r\nsays Levy. "Prawns serve as efficient biocontrol agents against\r\nparasite-carrying snails. And since we can now use monosex prawns, which do not\r\nreproduce, it reduces the hazard of prawns becoming an invasive species." The\r\npublication follows a study published in July in Nature Sustainability showing\r\nthat freshwater prawn species serve as a biocontrol agent by preying on aquatic\r\nsnail species. The snails serve as intermediate hosts of the parasite that\r\ncauses schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa.

"With monosex prawns at profit-maximizing densities,\r\nthe prawns substantially reduce intermediate host snail populations and aid\r\nschistosomiasis control efforts," says Prof. Sagi. "Integrated\r\naquaculture-based interventions can be a win-win strategy in terms of health\r\nand sustainable development in schistosomiasis endemic regions of the\r\nworld."

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Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by\r\nparasitic worms that can result in severe abdominal pain, diarrhea and blood in\r\nthe stool. In women, urogenital schistosomiasis may present with genital\r\nlesions, vaginal bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse, and nodules in the vulva.\r\nIn men, urogenital schistosomiasis can induce pathology of the seminal\r\nvesicles, prostate and other organs. The World Health Organization estimates\r\nthat at least 220.8 million people each year require preventive treatment for\r\nthe disease. In this study, Prof. Sagi and Dr. Amit Savaya of BGU joined forces\r\nwith a large team of researchers around the world headed by Prof. Giulio De Leo\r\nof Stanford University to outline control strategies, drawing on both prawn\r\naquaculture to reduce intermediate host snail populations and mass drug\r\nadministration to treat infected individuals. Integrating both methods is found\r\nto be superior to either one alone.

Source : Phys.org