Gene Conservation Laboratory
SNP Workshops

SNP Workshop II


The Genetics Section external link of the American Fisheries Society Section and Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with sponsorship from Applied Biosystems external link , hosted a second SNP workshop (SNP Workshop II: Applications of SNP Genotyping in Fisheries Management) in Girdwood, Alaska, Sept. 21–22, 2006. The workshop explored applications, SNP discovery, statistics, laboratory techniques, and reviewed case studies of SNPs for fisheries management and conservation. Discussions were structured with a goal of building cooperative research and Pacific Rim baselines. The expanded scope of this year's workshop drew from a variety of related disciplines. Invited presentations included overviews and SNP applications from a variety of disciplines representing a diversity of non-model organisms. Representatives of Applied Biosystems presented recent developments in TaqMan genotyping and troubleshooting. Experience papers presented by participating laboratories generated group discussions of research priorities and opportunities for cooperation. The Workshop was well attended with over 85 scientists from eight nations. With the financial assistance of Applied Biosystems, the Section was able to sponsor three Young Investigator Awards. The $4,000 TaqMan Assays Award went to Renee Bellinger of Oregon State University for her research entitled "SAGE & SNPs: spicing up the Chinook salmon genetic baseline and advancing our understanding of the genetic basis of migration timing." The two $1,000 travel awards went to Rachel Simmons from the University of California, Davis, for her presentation "Haplotype inference as a method of producing more powerful SNP markers" and Suzanne Roden from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center for her presentation "Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Marker Discover in Chelonia mydas." There was an enthusiastic contingent of Europeans who are considering hosting SNP III sometime in the future.