Mollusk Breeding and Genetic Improvement

Mollusk has many species and a high yield in the aquatic industry, which provides many good proteins for human life. Mollusk farming is a globally important industry based primarily around the oyster, scallop, abalone, mussel, etc., for which a common technique is elevated culture on racks, trestles and other structures. Moreover, genetic improvement is imperative to achieve sustainable, high-quality, high-yield shellfish species by selective breeding, hybridization, polyploid breeding, molecular-assisted breeding, etc. Therefore, this Research Topic is beneficial and important in marine science.

Compared to terrestrial farm animals, the domestication and selective breeding history are relatively short in aquatic animals, and most knowledge originates from livestock genetics. This Research Topic would like to discuss selective breeding and selected varieties, intraspecific hybridization and crossbred hybrid varieties, interspecific hybridization and crossbred hybrid varieties, polyploidy breeding and polyploid varieties, gynogenesis, androgenesis in genetic breeding biotechnologies and breed varieties. At present, most research interests focus on gene introduction, gene editing and cell engineering breeding, and classical breeding methods. Our goal is to obtain effective information on genetic improvement through the combination of traditional breeding methods and the discovery of surrogate molecular breeding techniques in Mollusk.

This Research Topic aims to discuss all aspects of shellfish research, including aquaculture, biology, phenotypic omics, ecology, management, etc. This theme targets individual interested in basic research, commercial production, genetic resource management, germplasm innovation, etc. Original Research, Review and Mini Review are welcomed.