The Millennium Nucleus Marine Agronomy of Seaweed Holobionts (MASH) is a scientific research project funded by the Millennium Science Initiative of the National Research and Development Agency (ANID).

MASH pretends to be the first Chilean center dedicated to the generation of essential knowledge for future innovations in the production of seaweeds, specifically Macrocystis pyrifera (huiro) and Gracilaria chilensis (pelillo).

MASH researchers will focus on three pillars of marine agronomy: understanding and controlling the traits of interest for seaweed aquaculture, designing breeding strategies that maximize selection efficiency to obtain improved strains, and managing the genetic resource to promote a sustainable seaweed cultivation.

These pillars will integrate the concept of holobiont, or the organism and its microbiota, to understand how this assembly functions and responds under culture conditions.

The different lines covered by MASH are seaweed ecophysiology, evolutionary biology, experimental ecology, microbiology and mathematical modeling of metabolic networks at the genome scale.

MASH Nucleus seeks to promote the concept of marine agronomy by training young researchers in biological sciences, with special motivation and skills to address the challenges of seaweed aquaculture.

Finally, to achieve a real impact in the productive sector, the development of this research will be carried out in close collaboration with farmers. MASH will engage children from coastal schools, teaching them relevant concepts and skills for better preservation and sustainable use of marine systems, where seaweed farms are developed.