Investigations

The aim of this investigation is to understand molecular mechanisms of PUFA biosynthesis and regulation in order to enable the sustainable use of vegetable oils in aquafeeds as current sources of fish oils are unable to meet increasing demands for omega-3 PUFAs. By generating gene knockouts, we would like to study the genes that are crucial for multi-tissue synthesis of PUFA synthesis in vivo.

Atlantic salmon is a main source of essential ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in many Western diets, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA). However, farmed salmon meat now contains less healthy ω-3 fatty acids (FA) than before, due to the shift from marine to vegetable lipid feed sources. An important future aquaculture challenge is therefore to maintain a healthy and high EPA/DHA content when farmed salmon is fed a vegetable ...