EggPreserve Ovarian fluid key to preserving the quality of fish eggs

The EggPreserve project is aimed at identifying the proteins in ovarian fluid – the fluid in which eggs are suspended once impregnated – and the major role it plays in maintaining fertility in salmonids.

The fluid possesses unique biological properties that cannot be mimicked by an artificial mineral environment replicating its ionic composition. Identifying the proteins in ovarian fluid that are involved in maintaining egg fertility would provide aquaculture with major benefits by offering a wide variety of applications relating to storing and transporting fish eggs.

The project will employ a combined analytical and comparative strategy to identify and also characterise the proteins which confer this unique property on salmonid ovarian fluid.