10/27/2009

Liu Awarded $800,000 Grant to Sequence Catfish Genome

AUBURN, Ala.—Zhanjiang (John) Liu, associate dean of research for the Auburn University College of Agriculture and associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, has received an $800,000 competitive federal grant to sequence the entire catfish genome, a process that will determine the exact order of the one billion DNA base pairs and the 28,000 genes in the catfish genome that Liu and fellow researchers have identified since launching the genome project 12 years ago.

Liu, who also is a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, was awarded the funding through the competitive grant program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Agricultural and Food Research Initiative.

Research aimed at genetically enhancing animals of agricultural importance is among the areas of scientific study AFRI dollars support, and that is the goal of the catfish genome project: to find the genes that control such economically important traits as disease resistance, survivability, growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and fillet yield so breeders can develop top-performing catfish that can help producers operate more efficiently and more profitably.

The DNA sequencing that the AFRI grant is funding will allow scientists to locate, identify and map the catfish’s 28,000 genes and determine which genes are associated with specific performance traits so that breeders will have the information to produce genetically superior brood stock, Liu said.

Top-performing breeds are essential, he said, if the catfish industry in Alabama and nationwide is to remain economically viable in the face of soaring feed, energy and fuels costs, low farm-gate prices and increased competition from overseas imports.

For the actual sequencing, the international catfish genome project team, which Liu heads, is evaluating the sequencing capabilities of several top private- and public-sector biotechnology laboratories in the U.S. and abroad and will select the most qualified and efficient one or ones to take the complete set of DNA fragments the research team has identified in the catfish genome and put it in perfect order. The resulting reference genome will be the genetic blueprint for building a catfish.

Researchers have taken a two-species approach to the catfish genome project, Liu said, based on the premium Auburn University hybrid catfish Auburn fisheries professor Rex Dunham introduced in 2005. The hybrid, a cross between a female channel catfish and a male blue catfish, grows faster on less feed, is more robust, is easier to harvest from ponds by netting or angling and has a higher processed yield than the traditional farm-raised channel catfish.

Liu, who as recently as five years ago was convinced it would take two to three decades to complete the entire genome sequence of catfish, now predicts the mission will be accomplished in less than two years, thanks to the phenomenal advances in sequencing and computing technologies since then.

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Contact: Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783, jcreamer@auburn.edu

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