Animal Molecular Breeding, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 91-101 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/amb 98 7 Conservation Genetics and Germplasm Management inChanna 7.1 Genetic diversity maintenance in broodstock In Channa farming, it’s really important to keep genetic diversity in the parent fish. This helps make sure the fish can survive in the long run and keeps farming sustainable. A study on Channa marulius found that the fish had a medium level of genetic diversity. But there was a problem-many fish had lower-than-expected heterozygosity. This means there might be inbreeding happening, or the group might have recently mixed with others in a way that affects the genes. Most of the genetic differences were found within individual fish, not between groups. So, managing parents properly is key. That includes avoiding inbreeding and keeping genetic variation high (Jabeen, 2022). One way to do this is through rotational mating-changing which males and females breed each time. Another helpful method is freezing fish sperm or eggs (Liu et al., 2019). This process, called cryopreservation, lets us save genetic material for a long time. If needed, we can use it later to bring back lost diversity or help with breeding programs. 7.2 Policy and sustainable aquaculture implications To make aquaculture more sustainable, we need to bring biodiversity protection into breeding plans. This means we shouldn’t just focus on farming more fish-we also need to protect their habitats and keep their genes from being lost. Good conservation work should include fixing natural habitats, doing artificial breeding, and saving genetic resources all at the same time (Liu et al., 2019). Take Channa striata as an example. In breeding tanks, its gonads develop better when the setup is closer to nature. If the tank has a bottom layer of sediment about 15-20 cm deep, and 20% to 30% of the surface is covered by plants like water hyacinth (both floating and underwater ones), the fish do better. In one test, the average egg size reached 1.29 ± 0.21 mm. There were also a lot of mature eggs and sperm seen in the fish. This shows that habitat conditions, even in tanks, really matter for how well the fish can reproduce (Damle et al., 2023). At the same time, routine genetic monitoring of seed populations can timely detect changes in genetic diversity and prevent the accumulation of harmful mutations. In the process of germplasm resource management and seed production, the introduction of evolutionary biology principles and quality management systems will improve the scientificity and effectiveness of long-term management of genetic resources. 8 Conclusions and Future Perspectives In recent years, some progress has been made in the genome and transcriptome sequencing technology of the genus Channa, and a high-quality genetic resource library has been constructed, including annotated whole genomes and gene families related to key traits (such as hypoxia tolerance, growth and reproduction). These resources help screen candidate genes and molecular markers, provide support for selective breeding and artificial domestication, and thus cultivate improved strains with excellent performance and strong adaptability. The integration of genomic and transcriptome data, combined with marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (GS) technology, provides an important opportunity to accelerate the genetic improvement of Channa. At the same time, technologies such as hormone-induced breeding domestication and probiotic feed addition have also shown good prospects in improving the growth, survival and reproductive performance of domesticated strains. Although a large number of candidate genes and QTL loci for key traits have been identified, the specific functions of these genes in trait expression still need to be verified through experimental evidence. Current breeding strategies are still limited in accuracy, mainly due to the lack of conclusive data directly linking specific genetic variations to phenotypic outcomes. In addition, most studies are conducted in a single environment or laboratory conditions, which may not fully reflect the differences in the performance of traits under diversified breeding or natural conditions. Therefore, future research should strengthen multi-environment experiments and
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