GENOMIC RESOURCES FOR GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF MOZAMBIQUE TILAPIA (Oreochromis mossambicus)

Tilapias are the second most farmed group of fishes in the world with global production predicted to reach around 5 million tonnes in 2015. More than half of that comes from Asia-Pacific, making tilapias one the most important economic source in this region. In 2011, we started a Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) selection project at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (Singapore) in collaboration with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore. The project aim to use genomic tools to select for fast growth fish in high salinity condition. I will present a brief overview of the selection and improvement we have achieved so far.

I will also focus on our effort to develop molecular tools for Mozambique tilapia. We have assembled a draft genome that contains 910.5 Mb sequences distributed among 41,739 scaffolds with N50 of 304.2 Kb. Using the genome as guide we also put together a transcriptome. These genomic resources will be useful for genetic improvement of the Mozambique tilapia.