Published on 21 August 2024
This initiative aims to ‘give the floor’ to all partners to share their projects and success stories, disseminating them within the Algae community. Keep reading to learn more about the latest initiative, part of the ninth edition of the EU4Algae Insider’s Perspective!
Blue Bio Boost: Boosting seaweed farming through better utilisation of genetic resources
Co-funded by the European Union through the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, the Blue Bio Boost project aims to boost efficiency in sustainable seaweed farming through better usage of genetic resources. The project includes an interdisciplinary team of stakeholders and companies from Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and Belgium that are driving forward the algae industry in Europe: the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) (the project coordinator), Sintef Ocean, Seaweed Solutions, the University of Gothenburg, Nordic SeaFarm, the Irish Seaweed Consultancy, the Irish Marine Institute, and the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO).
Sophie Steinhagen, a researcher at the Department of Marine Sciences from the University of Gothenburg, explained:
"We will investigate the genetic variation of seaweed and how this variation can be used in the development of seaweed farms. For example, there are a total of 20 unique species and subspecies of macroalgae sea lettuce along Sweden's coasts alone, and three of them are invasive. The project is part of the development of a sustainable cultivation of seaweed to increase the efficiency of seaweed production in Europe while protecting our valuable oceans.”
Project breakdown: Key details
Macroalgal biomass has multiple uses and is recognised as a target for increased production in Europe. To boost the growing seaweed industry, it is necessary to better utilise genetic variation to increase the yield, quality, and stability of the cultivated crop. The current macroalgae cultivation practice in Europe starts every year from new seeding material, obtained directly from local natural populations.
There is no selection of the most suitable genotypes, and no storage of seeding material (as an equivalent of plant breeders’ seedbanks and germplasm). Hence, no genetic progress in terms of yield and quality is obtained in the cultivated material over time. This is in clear contrast to land-based crop production, animal husbandry, and fish aquaculture.
Given the great progress in desired characteristics that domestication and further genetic improvement through modern breeding have brought about in other species (including macroalgae in Asia), strong improvements can also be expected in macroalgae cultivated in Europe. Additionally, it has recently been shown that a modern breeding program involving selection based on genomic information can increase genetic progress by allowing selection at both the sporophyte and the gametophyte stages. Simulation studies are valuable in the development of future breeding strategies.
A breeding program involving profound genetic changes would require a method of preventing cultivated plants from reproducing sexually and potentially hybridizing with natural populations to comply with concerns about the potential spread and mixing of cultivated macroalgae with natural populations (introgression) and the ecological consequences this may have, including erosion of the present natural genetic diversity. In Europe, only the cultivation of local genetic material of macroalgae is generally accepted.
As a result, the Blue Bio Boost project will investigate two options to avoid impact on natural populations:
- An alternative “mix-to-match" approach of mixing superior material with allele frequencies which are cultivated to attempt to circumvent the problem of introgression.
- Techniques that could facilitate the breeding of improved genotypes and the production of sterile sporophytes in the future.
Project goals & Intended outcomes
Part of Blue Bio Boost’s goals is the sustainable economic development of the macroalgae industry, which will include:
- Improving the efficiency of propagation and selection of suitable genotypes and exploring options to use ploidy and parthenogenesis in breeding.
- Developing sustainable breeding methods utilising mixtures of superior crosses.
- Creating a strategy for the future of European macroalgae breeding, which includes optimising cultivation through genetic improvements and mitigating environmental risks within the context of the EU regulatory framework.
As for its desired outcomes and positive impacts on the algae industry, those are:
- Direct research and innovation outputs related to:
- Protocols for determining ploidy level, generating doubled haploids to improve growth rates of gametophyte cultures, generating local multi-cross mixture populations.
- Knowledge of life cycles, phenotypes, and genetics.
- A strategy for European macroalgae breeding.
- Close current data gaps, fill technological and innovation gaps, and support an improved governance framework and regulation of the macroalgae sector.
- Access to the developed protocols that will be of direct use to the industry.
- Access to high-yielding seeding materials adapted to local conditions that will stimulate seaweed aquaculture production and processing industries.
- Provide crucial insights into the genetic diversity of natural populations, allowing for monitoring, evaluation, and/or mitigating genetic exchange from the onset of large-scale cultivation or kelp forest restoration.
Stay updated on Blue Bio Boost project news by visiting their official website, joining their LinkedIn group, and following their Instagram account.
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