4. Conclusion: scientific and technical challenges

Pearl production has moved on from the harvesting stage to the mastery of grafting operations; it has evolved, and is still evolving, with the advent of hatcheries enabling the production of spat from lines selected for their pearl-growing potential (color, luster, growth). This latest development represents a non-exclusive alternative to natural spat collection, which is subject to the vagaries of the environment, including hydroclimatic conditions. Ongoing genetic and genomic studies should also enable marker-assisted selection. Finally, whatever the production model, the grow-out phase is always carried out in situ – which means that we need to study in greater detail the interactions between the environment, the pearl oyster and, ultimately, the quality of the – pearl, using molecular biology tools to characterize modulations in the expression of quality-related genes as a function...