Objectives | aquawalescluster

Project Objectives

Objective 1: Response to overcrowding and stress

To examine how contrasting species adapt to crowding
To examine how such response may differ between wild and farmed fish in relation to cycles of parasite transmission

Research approach:

What?

Influence of crowding in morphology, physiology, behaviour and resistance to parasites of wild and farmed fish

How?

Analyses of differential gene expression in response to stress
Assessing the potential of transgenerational epigenetic control in the response to crowding

Species:

Objective 2: Genetic and epigenetic basis of responses to stress & disease

To analyse the relative roles of genetic and non-genetic effects in the response to stress and pathogen resistance
To investigate gene expression patterns underpinning optimal and suboptimal phenotypes in the context of crowding and infection.

Research approach:

What?

Influence of stress in morphology, physiology, behaviour and resistance to parasites of wild and farmed fish

How?

Analyses of differential gene expression in response to infection
Assessing the potential of transgenerational epigenetic control in the response to disease

Species:

Objective 3: Introduction & dispersal of invasive species

To analyse pathways of introduction and dispersal of aquaculture-related invasive species (AIS)
To develop a detailed map of AIS distribution in Wales and will feed into the modelling of past and future routes of dispersal, taking into account different potential scenarios of climate change

Research approach:

What?

Early detection and dispersal modelling of aquatic invasive species (AIS) associated with aquaculture and fisheries

How?

Using novel methods of detection (eDNA) and citizen science (Apps, workshops dissemination) to map and model routes of dispersal under different scenarios of climate change

Species: