Influence of nacre deposition rate on cultured pearl grade and colour in the black-lipped pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera using farmed donor families     

Carole Blay  Manaarii Sham-Koua  Vincent Vonau  Roger Tetumu  Philippe Cabral  Chin-Long Ky 《Aquaculture International》2014,22(2):937-953

Cultured pearl nacre deposition rate in Pinctada margaritifera oysters was studied to examine its influence on Tahitian classification grade and colour and to further our understanding of using selected donor oysters produced in a hatchery system for the improvement of these traits. A large-scale grafting experiment using 150 farmed donor oysters was realised in Rangiroa atoll (French Polynesia). After 18 months of culture, 874 pearls were harvested and 7 pearls quality traits were recorded: (1) nacre deposition rate assessed by nacre thickness and weight, (2) classification grade, lustre and surface defects, and (3) colour assessed by pearl colour darkness level and visual colour categories. Nacre deposition rate significantly influence pearl grade, surface defects, darkness level and colour categories, but not the lustre. Grade A pearls had the thickest and heaviest nacre on average, compared with grade D pearls and rejects. In addition, pearls without any surface defect had thicker and heavier nacre. Pearls with low darkness were the thinnest and the lightest. Pearls of aubergine–peacock secondary colours were the thickest and the heaviest. These results highlight the importance of rapid nacre deposition rate for increasing the production of grade A pearls, with less surface defects and dominance of a black tone colour. Fast nacre deposition may, however, have a negative impact on other pearl quality traits, such as pearl lustre. This study demonstrates the importance of examining relationships between pearl quality traits in a way that provides solid information that can be directly used for breeding and genetic selection programmes.  相似文献   

Feeding the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera during reproductive conditioning     

Gilles Le Moullac  Claude Soyez  Manaarii Sham‐Koua  Peva Levy  Jacques Moriceau  Vincent Vonau  Mayalen Maihota  Jean Claude Cochard 《Aquaculture Research》2013,44(3):404-411

This study aimed to model the food intake of P. margaritifera to examine the relationship between food level and reproductive activity. The effect of microalgae concentration on ingestion rate and assimilation efficiency was studied over a broad concentration range, using a mixture of Isochrysis galbana and Chaetoceros gracilis. Reproductive effort was assessed using three microalgae concentrations of 0.5, 7 and 18 cell μL^?1. Reproductive status was assessed by gonad development index (GDI) – the ratio of the gonad surface to the visceral mass surface – and histological analysis of the gonad based on the presence (continuous or discontinuous) or the absence of gonial cells (GC). Ingestion is a saturating function of seston concentration for bivalves modelled with an adapted Michaelis‐Menten function. The maximum ingestion rate of P. margaritifera adults was 193.50 × 10⁶ cell h^?1 g^?1 dw and the half saturation coefficient was 15 cell μL^?1. The concentration of 18 cell μL^?1, supplied for 45 days, induced a significantly higher GDI than the other treatments. GC decreased significantly and even stopped when pearl oysters were under‐fed, suggesting that the mitotic process of the germinal stem cells was altered. Differentiation of germinal stem cells therefore appears to be controlled by food availability.  相似文献   

Is pearl colour produced from Pinctada margaritifera predictable through shell phenotypes and rearing environments selections?          下载免费PDF全文

Chin‐Long Ky  Lore Le Pabic  Manaarii Sham Koua  Nicolas Molinari  Seiji Nakasai  Dominique Devaux 《Aquaculture Research》2017,48(3):1041-1057

The black‐lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera, is the most important farmed mollusc species in French Polynesia. Donor oyster selection among wild P. margaritifera individuals, chosen according to their inner shell colour, makes it possible to obtain the broadest range of cultured pearl colours of any species. This study demonstrates the relative influence of using black [B] or red [R] outer shell phenotypes, combined with green [G] or yellow [Y] inner shell phenotypes, on pearl darkness level, colour categories and lustre. A large scale grafting experiment was designed and carried out over five grow‐out locations, covering three archipelagos: Tuamotus, Society and Gambier. Results revealed that the [B + G] phenotypes may be used as donors to produce dark green pearl, which suit the demands of the Asian market; whereas, phenotypes incorporating [R] and/or [Y] phenotypes may be used to obtain multicolour pearls of medium/light darkness, which suit the demands of the European market. From an environmental point of view, the 1) [B] phenotype showed no significant variation for light and other pearl colour production, and 2) [Y] phenotype produced both the same rate of pearl darkness level and green colour pearls whatever the grow‐out location. A classification tree model was built to predict, according to shell phenotype and culture location, the colour and darkness level of harvested pearls. Lustre was shown to be more influenced by the environment than by phenotype. These results should be taken into account in pearl farm production management and in selective breeding programmes.  相似文献   

Donor effect on cultured pearl nacre development and shell matrix gene expression in Pinctada margaritifera reared in different field sites          下载免费PDF全文

Chin‐Long Ky  Floriane Broustal  Manaarii Sham Koua  Virgile Quillien  Benoît Beliaeff 《Aquaculture Research》2018,49(5):1934-1943

Understanding the respective roles played by donor and recipient pearl oysters in pearl quality determination in relation to the environment is a challenge for the pearl industry. In most Pinctada species, pearl size is mainly related to recipient oyster growth performance but also relies to some extent on the biomineralisation activity of the pearl sac, a tissue that originates from the donor oyster mantle. We examined donor effect on pearl size in response to culture in the lagoons on Arutua and Apataki atolls. Overall, nacre weight and thickness were greater in Arutua than in Apataki, but sensitivity to the environment differed between donors. Some donors were associated with significantly heavier and thicker nacre in Arutua (I group), while others had similar results at the two sites (NI group). On average, up to 20% of the pearl size could be attributed to the donor but, in group I, donor effect was responsible for up to 36% of nacre weight determination. Additionally, a real‐time PCR expression study of eight matrix protein genes related to biomineralisation in the pearl sac showed that MSI60, pearlin and pif177 were significantly and positively correlated with nacre weight and thickness, with the latter two genes explaining the larger pearl size observed in Arutua. Donor oysters in P. margaritifera therefore play a key role in pearl size improvement, related to the role of the shell matrix protein genes. Understanding such contributions could help in the design of genetic selection plans for specific and adapted donor oyster lines.  相似文献