In this project, we exposed broodstock to PolyIC immersion right before spawning (2 h). This project tracks the offspring of these parents to test for immune priming parental effects. This is a brief overview of the project.
Oysters were spawned at Point Whitney using their production workflow. Spawning was conducting using pooled egg and sperm from Control and Treated broodstock using approximately equal number of parents contributing to each pool.
Larvae were reared in 10,000 L tanks (n=1 per treatment) at Point Whitney using their production workflow for the first three days. Larvae were fed (nano-pav and CC mix) and maintained using their production practices. At 3 days post fertilization, larvae were screened at 60 um and sampled for RNA/DNA. Larvae were then distributed into 1,000 L tanks (n=2-3 per treatment).
At 8 days post fertilization, larvae were dropped from each tank and screened onto 105 um screens and sampled for RNA/DNA. Growth rates and survivorship (>90%) for all larval groups were high. Food was increased as larvae grew. Larvae were returned to tanks (n=2-3 per treatment).
At 14 days post fertilization, larvae were dropped from each tank and screened onto 240 um screens and sampled for RNA/DNA. Growth rates and survivorship (>95%) for all larval groups were high! Larvae were prepared for shipment to Kona facility for setting in Hawaii and shipped.
Setting was conducted in Kona and treatment groups were kept separate. Larave were kept in Kona until 22 November 2024 when they were shipped back to Point Whitney. Setting was very high (>20-25%). Spat were then allocated to n=3 upwellers in the indoor system at Point Whitney. Control spat were stocked with 0.9L of spat per upweller; Treated spat were stocked with 0.5-0.75 L of spat per upweller.
On 4 December 2024, we evenly spread the density of spat in n=2 upwellers per treatment (0.9 L in all tanks). Two additional tanks contained the excess of control and treated mixed together. Spat were sampled for RNA/DNA and imaged for size.
Over the winter months we will monitor for growth and conduct acute stress tests and metabolic assays at UW.