Developing a Super Shrimp Through Mating

Visiting UOG Professors Jian-Hua Xiong and Yong-Zhen Zhao are working on a mating model for shrimp, selecting males and females from different families in order to produce a line of super shrimp. 

Dr. Xiong is a molecular biologist who works on identifying shrimp genotypes from different families and looking at their genetic relationships. His experiments involve extracting DNA from shrimp then using electrophoresis systems to find their genotype.  

Dr. Zhao specializes in shrimp breeding and genetics.  In a news release he is quoted as saying that: "These super shrimp would be highly disease resistant, fast growers and taste delicious."  

The two professors arrived in January at the invitation of UOG's Dr. Hui Gong.

Dr. Gong is the first aquaculture researcher to be hired by the University of Guam and her connections with her native China have resulted in an official collaboration with the Guang Xi Institute of Fisheries and UOG.

The partnership is benefiting UOG research activities by allowing the two post-doctoral researchers, Drs. Xiong and Zhao to come to Guam from the institute and work with her at the Guam Aquaculture Development and Training Center (GADTC).

GADTC is also known as the Fadian Hatchery at UOG. It is the largest and oldest aquaculture center in the Western Pacific.

Aquaculture farmers in the region should benefit from their research in the long run.

Last year, Dr. Gong produced 20 families at the hatchery and now this team will select 10 families based on their performance under various conditions. Using statistical analysis they will select the families with the most desirable characteristics and begin breeding the next generation.

Once the best combination of families has been found, requiring several years of work in genetic selection, the seedstock can be made available to regional farmers, and possibly for export.