JUNE 25,
2019
Brazilian
and German scientists have completed a collaborative project to sequence and
analyze the whole genome of Arapaima gigas, a giant freshwater fish known
in Brazil as pirarucu and elsewhere as arapaima or paiche. Its growth rate is
the fastest among known freshwater fish species. Its natural distribution
covers most of the Amazon River basin in Peru and Brazil.
The
research led to discoveries that help determine sex at an early stage,
facilitating the separation of female and male fry for sex-specific breeding
and sale. It also paves the way for further studies relating to genetic
improvement of the species.
The
findings of the research, which was supported by FAPESP, are published
in Scientific Reports.
The
collaboration began in 2015, when Manfred Schartl, a geneticist at the
University of Würzburg in Germany, was contacted by biologist Rafael Henrique
Nóbrega and his then Ph.D. student Marcos Antonio de Oliveira. Oliveira has
since earned his doctorate from São Paulo State University's Aquaculture Center
in Botucatu, Brazil.
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