An insight into advances in fisheries biology, genetics and genomics of African tilapia species of interest in aquaculture

• Published in: Aquaculture reports 2019-07, Vol.14, p.100188, Article 100188
• Main Authors: Amoussou, T. Olivier, Abdou Karim, Issaka Youssao, Dayo, Guiguigbaza-Kossigan, Kareem, Nawroz, Toko, Ibrahim Imorou, Chikou, Antoine, Toguyéni, Aboubacar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquaculture; DNA; Genome; Molecular markers; Sequencing technologies
• ISSN: 2352-5134; 2352-5134
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aqrep.2019.100188

•Using a genetic marker is conditioned by the facilities available, the research objectives, and the quality-price ratio.•The most-used molecular markers for Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon melanotheron studies are currently mtDNA and SSR.•Allozymic and RFLP are in little if any current use.•Mitochondrial, SSRs, ISSRs, and SNPs are promising tools for tilapia genetic characterization notably in their fingerprinting, linkage mapping, population genetic studies, and paternity analyses.•AFLPs are just too tedious, and results are hard to pool across runs and laboratories.•DNA barcoding is proving to be a useful tool for identifying tilapia fishes. Morphological identification of tilapia species is complicated by extensive intraspecific variation of morphological characters used for classical identification. To address this obstacle, use of molecular techniques as additional tools for identification of these cichlids is recommended. Further, DNA marker technologies are useful in other areas such as conservation genetics, evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, population genetics, fish safety monitoring. A summary of the various methods of tilapia genetic resources characterization based on molecular markers is presented. We focused on some of tilapia species that are widely cultured in Africa, this includes both Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon melanotheron. Eleven molecular markers that were divided into three categories (cytoplasmic, dominant and codominant markers) are commonly used for genetic analysis in tilapia, each has its advantages and disadvantages. Novel methods of genome sequencing and mapping in tilapia are also presented and discussed.