Chengmin  Sun , Manman Li

1 Center for Tropical Marine Fisheries Research, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
2 Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Genomics and Applied Biology, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 2   
Received: 19 Jan., 2025    Accepted: 26 Feb., 2025    Published: 11 Mar., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study explores the mechanisms of environmental adaptability and reproductive stability of tilapia, analyzes the biological basis of its gonad development and sex differentiation, and provides a theoretical basis for optimizing sex regulation strategies and improving aquaculture benefits. Based on pre-gonadal transcriptomic analysis, this study identified core regulatory genes such as Dmrt1, Cyp19a1a and Foxl2, as well as gender-specific RNA expression profiles that affect steroid synthesis and gamete formation. The study revealed the core signaling pathways of gonadal maturation, including the TGF-β/Wnt network for testis development and the BMP cascade reaction for ovarian differentiation. Through the localization of the interaction network and the analysis of the expression trend, the gene synergy mechanism guiding the development of gonads was clarified. This study systematically evaluated the practical value of early gender identification, molecular marker application, and targeted gene editing technologies. By combining the existing technical bottlenecks with future breakthrough directions, a multi-dimensional theoretical framework was constructed for improving the gender control system in tilapia farming.

Tilapia; Gonadal transcriptome; Sex differentiation; Non-coding RNA; Molecular breeding