Metabolomics in Aquatic Ecology and Aquaculture

It has long been postulated that life on earth had its origins deep within our ancient oceans, arising from hydrothermal vent systems around 4 billion years ago. Perhaps we will never definitively know where abiogenesis took its first step in forming complex self-organising biostructures. But we do know that hidden beneath the waves of our present-day ocean are myriads of biological diversities at different levels of complexity which hold many secrets about our evolutionary history. It is estimated that of all eukaryotic species on the planet, >2 million of them are aquatic. Apart from keeping our atmosphere in check and providing various intrinsic values, our oceans, rivers, and lakes are also home to biological resources that the world relies on for sustenance and sources of income through fisheries and aquaculture. Understanding these systems and managing them sustainably is one of our greatest challenges. The rise of functional genomic tools, such as metabolomic approaches, hold great promise to answer fundamental questions around aquatic organism physiology, form, and function.

Metabolomics is an emerging frontier of systems biology in aquatic research. Although the term was coined by the ‘omics community over two decades ago, implementation of metabolomics by researchers to better understand aquatic organism physiology is still in its early stages. However, unique benefits of phenotyping organisms at a metabolic level are beginning to be recognised, particularly within applied areas research. For example, aquaculture researchers are utilising metabolomic approaches to test and formulate new functional foods that enhance animal performance, to assess and monitor the heath of aquatic stock, and to reduce negative impacts associated with intensive farming practices. Other fields such as ecotoxicology are using metabolomics to help establish or refine regulatory guidelines around aquatic contaminants of concern, and environmental scientists are embracing metabolomics to identify thresholds where metabolic reprogramming in aquatic organisms can lead to acclimation or adaptive strategies to stresses. Such applications have broad implications for food security, future visioning, and development of effective environmental policies.
Advancing knowledge in aquatic biology and ecosystem functioning through focus on metabolic phenotyping will pave the way for us to better manage our environment, understand impacts of a changing ocean, develop a successful and sustainable blue economy, and provide data to inform decision-makers and enable better protection, preservation, and conservation of our precious freshwater and marine habitats.

The goal of this Research Topic is to publish original manuscripts that highlight new developments in the broad application of metabolomic approaches towards aquatic ecology and aquaculture research.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, metabolomics applications in:

• Evolutionary biology & systematics of aquatic organisms (e.g., chemotaxonomy)
• Aquatic ecophysiology, bioenergetics, and flux modelling
• Health of aquatic organisms (i.e., disease, immunometabolism, ecotoxicology)
• Effects of ocean acidification and marine warming on aquatic life
• Aquaculture and fisheries (e.g., nutrition, culture systems, provenance)
• Method development and validation for analysis of aquatic-derived samples
• Challenges and opportunities for aquatic-based metabolomics research
• Integrated multi-omics and bioinformatics for aquatic biology

‘Metabolomics in Aquatic Ecology and Aquaculture’ welcomes submissions of the following article types: Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, Opinions, Methods, and General Commentaries. Please refer to this link for a full list of accepted article types including descriptions.