Can Genomic Selection Improve Resistance to AHPND in Pacific White Shrimp? Insights from Challenge Experiments

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) has caused devastating losses in Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ) aquaculture globally. This project evaluated the potential of genomic selection (GS) to enhance resistance to AHPND in commercial shrimp breeding programs. Two challenge experiments were conducted with over 4300 specific pathogen-free (SPF) shrimp genotyped using a 50K SNP array. Genetic parameters were estimated using a threshold model within a Bayesian framework, and genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) were predicted using genomic BLUP (GBLUP). Moderate to high heritabilities for binary survival (h 2 = 0.27–0.54) indicated substantial genetic variation for resistance. Strong positive genetic correlations were found between survival GEBVs and growth traits, suggesting simultaneous improvement is possible. Validation approaches revealed forward-in-time predictions had lower accuracies compared to backward-in-time, underscoring the importance of validation strategy design. These findings demonstrate that GS can play a critical role in developing disease-resistant shrimp lines, supporting more sustainable aquaculture practices.