Towards Fish Lipid Nutrigenomics: Current State and Prospects for Fin-fish Aquaculture

摘要

Lipids are the predominant source of energy for fish. The mechanisms by whichfish allocate energy from lipids, for metabolism, development, growth andreproduction are critical for understanding key life history strategies andtransitions. Currently, the major lipid component in aquaculture diets is fishoil (FO), derived from wild capture fisheries that are exploited at theirmaximum sustainable limit. The increasing demand from aquaculture for FO willsoon exceed supply and threaten the viability of aquaculture. Thus, it isessential to minimize FO use in aquaculture diets. This might be achieved by agreater understanding of lipid storage and muscle growth, or the identificationof alternatives to FO in feeds. This review focuses on recent research applyingmolecular and genomic techniques to the study of fin-fish lipid metabolism froman aquaculture perspective. Accordingly, particular emphasis will be given tofatty acid metabolism and to highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) biosynthesis,and to the transcriptional mechanisms and endocrine factors that regulate theseprocesses in fish. Comparative studies of gene function and distribution aredescribed which, when integrated with recent fish genome sequence information,provide insights into lipid homeostasis and the outcomes associated with thereplacement of FO in fish diets.