The African catfish is one of the most important species in global fish production. It is widely used in aquaculture due to its rapid growth rate, adaptability to different environmental conditions and resistance to disease. Despite its importance, the genome of this species has so far only been partially decoded.
A group of researchers from Germany has performed a haplotype-resolved, near complete (T2T, ‘telomere-to-telomere’) genome assembly, which represents 99.96% of the genome. This makes it possible to analyse the inherited parental chromosomes independently of each other, which is particularly important for understanding genetic diversity. The genome of the African catfish comprises approximately 969.62 million base pairs and its diploid chromosome set consists of 56 chromosomes. In this sense, the head of the Fish Genetics group at the Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf, Dr. Tom Goldammer said: “The genome decoding not only enables us to further improve the breeding and keeping of the African catfish in aquaculture, but also provides valuable insights into the evolutionary biology of fish.” Likewise, Goldammer added: “With our research, we have taken a major step towards further research into this fascinating species. The data is a valuable tool for future studies and will be made available to the scientific community worldwide.”
The African catfish is particularly adaptable and, in addition to gill breathing, has also developed the ability to utilise oxygen from the air. The 50 genes that control this mechanism have now been identified, which can further advance evolutionary research and enable exciting research approaches to this physiological peculiarity. The FBN has now created the basic prerequisite for modern breeding approaches for this species with the African catfish, another economically relevant aquaculture fish species. Also, this knowledge gained will help to improve animal welfare in African catfish farming and reduce emissions in production in the future.
Reference:
Nguinkal, J. A., Zoclancounon, Y. A. B., Brunner, R. M., Chen, Y., & Goldammer, T. (2024). Haplotype-resolved and near-T2T genome assembly of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Scientific Data. 11, 1095. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03906-9
