Our team has initiated a selective breeding program for regional strains of sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima, to improve the competitiveness of kelp farming in the United States. Within our breeding program, we also include an endemic putative species, Saccharina angustissima, locally referred to as skinny kelp. We crossed uniclonal gametophyte cultures derived from 37 wild-collected blades representing five sugar kelp strains and one skinny kelp strain to produce 104 unique crosses. Each cross was outplanted on a near-shore research farm located in the Gulf of Maine (GOM). After the first farming season, our results indicated that sugar kelp and skinny kelp were interfertile, and produced mature and reproductively viable sporophytes. Morphological traits of individual blades varied depending on the parental contribution (sugar vs. skinny), with significant differences found in progeny blade length, width, thickness, and in stipe length and diameter. Despite these differences, wet weight and blade density per plot showed no statistical differences regardless of the cross. Given their published genetic similarity and their interfertility shown here, S. angustissima and S. latissima may not be different species, and may each contribute genetic diversity to breeding programs aimed at meeting ocean farming and market needs.

中文翻译：

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西北大西洋养殖糖海带和瘦海带 Saccharina spp. 形态特征的比较分析

我们的团队已经启动了糖海带区域品系Saccharina latissima的选择性育种计划，以提高美国海带养殖的竞争力。在我们的育种计划中，我们还包括一个地方性推定物种Saccharina angustissima，当地称为瘦海带。我们杂交了来自 37 个野生收集的叶片的单克隆配子体培养物，这些叶片代表 5 种糖海带菌株和一种瘦海带菌株，产生了 104 个独特的杂交。每个十字架都在位于缅因湾 (GOM) 的近岸研究农场外种植。在第一个耕作季节之后，我们的结果表明，糖海带和瘦海带是不育的，并且产生了成熟且具有繁殖力的孢子体。单个叶片的形态特征因亲本贡献（糖与瘦）而异，在后代叶片长度、宽度、厚度以及菌柄长度和直径方面存在显着差异。尽管存在这些差异，但每个地块的湿重和叶片密度没有显示出统计学差异，无论交叉如何。S. angustissima和S. latissima可能不是不同的物种，它们都可能为旨在满足海洋养殖和市场需求的育种计划贡献遗传多样性。