Danish initiatives in selective breeding in insects

TY - ABST

T1 - Danish initiatives in selective breeding in insects

AU - Nielsen, Hanne Marie

AU - Hansen, Laura Skrubbeltrang

AU - Gebreyesus, Grum

AU - Sahana, Goutam

AU - Zaalberg, Roos Marina

AU - Kargo, Morten

AU - Slagboom, Margot

AU - Noer, Natasja Krog

AU - Schou, Toke Munk

AU - Jensen, Kim

AU - Sørensen, Jesper Givskov

AU - Laursen, Stine Frey

AU - Bahrndorff, Simon

AU - Kristensen, Torsten Nygaard

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Commercial insect production for food or feed offers a sustainable solution to mitigate the food crisis with the increasing world population. However, to optimize insect production, the large and yet unexploited selective breeding potential should be utilized. In Denmark, work is being performed to develop a selective breeding program in insect species such as house flies and black soldier flies. However, there are several challenges associated with selective breeding in insects. For example, a short generation interval provides only limited time to collect phenotypic records, which necessitates development of accurate and high-throughput phenotyping methods. An important requirement for developing an effective selective breeding program for insects is to estimate economic values and we have done so for important traits in black soldier flies (BSF) such as larval mass on day 15, growth rate, dry mass-, protein- and fat content, development time, eggs per fly, egg hatching rate, and larval mortality to be included in a breeding goal. We have also explored different mating systems for BSF and estimated genetic parameters for traits of economic importance. Based on this information we used stochastic simulation software to evaluate different breeding programs. We simulated a mass selection breeding program where the aim was to increase larval body weight. Further we assessed different breeding programs where we varied to the phenotypic strategy and mating design. A sustainable breeding program for the insect industry will enable insect companies to maintain their own breeding population and increase genetic gain for traits of interest.

AB - Commercial insect production for food or feed offers a sustainable solution to mitigate the food crisis with the increasing world population. However, to optimize insect production, the large and yet unexploited selective breeding potential should be utilized. In Denmark, work is being performed to develop a selective breeding program in insect species such as house flies and black soldier flies. However, there are several challenges associated with selective breeding in insects. For example, a short generation interval provides only limited time to collect phenotypic records, which necessitates development of accurate and high-throughput phenotyping methods. An important requirement for developing an effective selective breeding program for insects is to estimate economic values and we have done so for important traits in black soldier flies (BSF) such as larval mass on day 15, growth rate, dry mass-, protein- and fat content, development time, eggs per fly, egg hatching rate, and larval mortality to be included in a breeding goal. We have also explored different mating systems for BSF and estimated genetic parameters for traits of economic importance. Based on this information we used stochastic simulation software to evaluate different breeding programs. We simulated a mass selection breeding program where the aim was to increase larval body weight. Further we assessed different breeding programs where we varied to the phenotypic strategy and mating design. A sustainable breeding program for the insect industry will enable insect companies to maintain their own breeding population and increase genetic gain for traits of interest.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Insects for the Green Economy: Sustainable Food<br/>Systems and Livelihoods in Africa

Y2 - 28 February 2024 through 29 February 2024

ER -