The Potential for Engineering Enhanced Functional-Feed Soybeans for Sustainable Aquaculture Feed.
Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing segment of global animal production that now surpasses wild-capture fisheries production and is continuing to grow 10% annually. Sustainable aquaculture needs to diminish, and progressively eliminate, its dependence on fishmeal-sourced feed from over-harvested fisheries. Sustainable aquafeed sources will need to be primarily of plant-origin. Soybean is currently the primary global vegetable-origin protein source for aquaculture. Direct exchange of soybean meal for fishmeal in aquafeed has resulted in reduced growth rates due in part to soybean's anti-nutritional proteins. To produce soybeans for use in aquaculture feeds a new conventional line has been bred termed Triple Null by stacking null alleles for the feed-relevant proteins Kunitz Trypsin Inhibitor, lectin, and P34 allergen. Triple Null is now being further enhanced as a platform to build additional transgene traits for vaccines, altered protein composition, and to produce high levels of β-carotene an intrinsic orange-colored aquafeed marker to distinguish the seeds from commodity beans and as the metabolic feedstock precursor of highly valued astaxanthin.
School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA.
Eliot M
EM
Herman
School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA.
Monica A
MA
Schmidt
Kunitz trypsin inhibitor; P34 allergen; aquaculture; aquafeed; carotenoid; soybean; soybean agglutinin; vaccines