Whole-genome resequencing infers genomic basis of giant phenotype in Siamese fighting fish (<i>Betta splendens</i>)

Abstract

A: Giant and normal bettas. B: LD decay among wild-type, giant, and normal bettas. C, D: Population structure within betta fish and between giant and normal bettas, respectively, as revealed by PCA. E: Ancestral genetic clusters among wild-type, giant, and normal bettas, as revealed by admixture analysis.

The ornamental fighting fish is the next model organism for genetic studies

“…Over past 100 years, more than 1000 scientific papers on fighting fish have been published by scientists from many countries 4,5,12,13,18,20,62,70 . Since 2018, publications have numbered over 100 per year and continued to increase yearly.…”

“…A recent GWAS showed that body size was determined by many QTL scattered across different regions of the fighting fish genome. Many candidate genes for growth were identified, 18,20 however, the functions of these genes have not been investigated. Further study using genomics tools, 3,12,13,18,20,76 including knockout with CRISPR/Cas9, 69 may bring novel insights into how these genes determine body size.…”

“…This has been demonstrated in several recent studies on phenotypes and sex determination. 12,18,19 With these genome resources, it is now much easier to study the molecular mechanisms underlying many interesting biological questions, for example, how genetics determines phenotypes, domestication and evolution in fighting fish.…”

“…Over past 100 years, more than 1000 scientific papers on fighting fish have been published by scientists from many countries. 4,5,12,13,18,20,62,70 Since 2018, publications have numbered over 100 per year and continued to increase yearly. With the rich knowledge on the biology of fighting fish, as well as genomic resources and novel genome-editing technologies recently developed for fighting fish, the utility of fighting fish as a model animal for genetic studies is high.…”

“…albino), has been described 12,16,17 . The molecular mechanisms underlying some coloration patterns, double tail, the size of the pectoral fin, sex determination, body size variation and its domestication, also have been studied recently 12,18,19 …”