Mark Cock1, Olivier Godfroy1, Yacine Badis1, Zofia Nehr1, Paolo Ruggeri1, Komlan Avia2,3, Martina Strittmatter4, Marie-Mathilde Perrineau4, Bertrand Jacquemin2,5, Lucie Jaugeon2, Emilie Gouhier2, Stéphane Mauger2, Delphine Scornet1, Simon Bourdareau1, Akira F. Peters6, Aurelien Baud7, Jérôme Coudret2, Stéphane Loisel2, Ousseini Issaka-Salia2, Marion Ballenghien2, Susana M. Coelho1,8, Myriam Valero2, Leila Tirichine-Delacour9, France Denoeud10, Philippe Potin7
1Algal Genetics Group, UMR 8227 CNRS-UPMC, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier, CS 90074, 29688 Roscoff, France, 2Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae, CNRS-Sorbonne Université, France, 3Grapevine Health and Vine Quality (SVQV), INRA-Université de Strasbourg, France, 4The Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll, PA37 1QA, UK, 5Seaweed Raw Material (AMP), CEVA Pleubian, France, 6Bezhin Rosko, 29250, Santec, France, 7Algal Biology and Interactions with the Environment Group, UMR 8227 CNRS-UPMC, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier, CS 90074, 29688 Roscoff, France, 8Department of Algal Development and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 5, Tübingen 72076, Germany, 9Université de Nantes, CNRS, UFIP, UMR 6286, F-44000 Nantes, France, 10CEA, DSV, Institut de Génomique, Génoscope, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, CP5706, 91057 Evry, France
Seaweed aquaculture is increasingly attracting interest in Europe and the USA as a potential means to increase future production of food and biomass. Efficient expansion of seaweed cultivation to meet this objective will require the implementation of modern breeding strategies to improve yields and crop resilience. We have been developing several resources that are relevant to this objective. First, the large-scale brown algal genome sequencing project Phaeoexplorer (https://phaeoexplorer.sb-roscoff.fr/home/) is generating genome sequence information for several species of interest for aquaculture. These genomes represent essential reference sequences for future breeding programs. Second, recently established resources for the model brown alga Ectocarpus, in particular CRISPR-based gene editing, now make it a powerful tool for the analysis of gene function. Experimentally-validated information about gene function obtained using this system will also be extremely useful to help target breeding approaches. Finally, focusing on the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima as a target aquaculture species, we have been establishing a range of resources including a large collection of RAD-seq genotyped gametophyte strains and protocols for the application of quantitative trait locus analysis and genome-wide association studies. The presentation will provide an overview of these approaches and will discuss their integration into seaweed breeding programs.