BAU researchers have unveiled the genome sequence of catfish
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Photo: Barta24.com
For the first time in the country, the genome sequence of local catfish and the identification of possible genes that determine the sex of male and female catfish have been successful in the fisheries biology and genetics department of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) led by Professor Dr. Taslima Khanam and her research team.
Professor and researcher Dr. Taslima Khanam said the sequencing work was completed at the University of Tokyo in Japan in 2022-2024 with funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This sequence made possible the identification of potential sex-determining genes using draft genomes, a first for any native fish.
She also said that the results of the research project have been presented at an international scientific conference organized by the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. The research team led by Dr. Taslima Khanam included a group of researchers from Bangladesh, Japan and Sweden.
Dr. Taslima Khanam said about the purpose of her research, in some fish, differences in physical growth between male and female fish can be observed. Catfish is one example of this whereas growth of female catfish is 40-60 percent higher than male fish. Production of monosex cat fish like Tilapia is considered as one of the ways to increase the commercial production of this fish. Identification of sex-determining genes is essential for successful production of monosex catfish.
She also said that the detection of sex-determining genes will enable the production of monosex catfish in a short time through marker-assisted selection instead of conventional methods. In addition, identification of male and female fish would be possible long before catfish become reproductive, which would speed up the traditional selective breeding process. It will be important to identify not only sex-determining genes from the catfish genome, but also genes responsible for other traits such as physical growth, disease resistance and survival in adverse environments.
BAU Vice –Chancellor Professor Dr. Emdadul Haque Chowdhury said that catfish is known as food for patients. We know that male fish are usually stronger than female fish. But it is the opposite in catfish. In the case of catfish, female fish are stronger. If the female fish are selected more, more production can be done. It can easily be done by determining the gender.
