Abstract
The implementation of modern molecular genetic technologies for the improvement of genetic resources enables the precise and efficient selection for economically relevant traits in fish farming and aquaculture – agricultural sectors with the most intensive development on a global scale. With regard of this the identification of “major” or “candidate” genes associated with economically important traits using DNA-based marker techniques is a necessary prerequisite for conducting a breeding programme in the long term.
The genetic studies of many researchers in the field of aquaculture are primarily focused on the identification of nucleotide variations in polymorphic sites of genes associated with the growth performance in Teleosts. The somatotropic axis genes, among which those coding for the growth hormone (GH), the growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and myostatin (MSTN) are of particular interest. The results obtained in different fish species of economic importance, including common carp (Cyprinus carpio), demonstrated clearly that the genetic variation in these loci could be associated with the growth performance of the species’ representatives.
The purpose of this overview was to present the achievement of scientists and specialists in the field of fish farming and aquaculture related to genes responsible for the growth performance of a number of fish species in order to reveal the possibilities and accomplishments of functional genomics in an improvement of marker-assisted selection techniques in Cyprinus carpio.
Keywords: common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), growth hormone gene (GH), growth hormone receptor gene
(GHR), insulin-like growth factor I gene (IGF-I), myostatin gene (MSTN).