Bioscience Methods 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 162-172 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/bm 162 Review Article Open Access Identification of Disease Resistance Genes and CRISPR-Based Genome Editing inChannaspp. Fei Zhao, Jinni Wu Aquatic Biology Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding email: jinni.wu@cuixi.org Bioscience Methods, 2025, Vol.16, No.3 doi: 10.5376/bm.2025.16.0015 Received: 17 Apr., 2025 Accepted: 28 May, 2025 Published: 20 Jun., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Zhao and Wu, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Zhao F., and Wu J.N., 2025, Identification of disease resistance genes and CRISPR-Based genome editing in Channa spp., Bioscience Methods, 16(3): 162-172 (doi: 10.5376/bm.2025.16.0015) Abstract This study analyzed the hazards and immune response mechanisms of common diseases of snakehead fish in recent years (such as nocardia, Aeromonas hydrophila, viral hemorrhagic septicemia, etc.), and summarized the mining methods and functional research progress of key genes for disease resistance of snakehead fish, including screening of immune genes such as IL-17 and TRAF through whole genome scanning and transcriptomics. At the same time, the application status and advantages of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology in aquaculture were discussed, such as efficient site-directed mutagenesis and introduction of exogenous antimicrobial peptide genes to enhance fish disease resistance. Through case analysis of the successful experience of disease-resistant gene editing in related fish (such as Atlantic salmon and catfish), this study prospected the potential path and results of disease-resistant gene editing breeding of snakehead fish, and discussed its ecological and ethical impacts (such as off-target effects, food safety and public acceptance, etc.), which is of great significance to improving aquaculture production and disease prevention and control, and also provides the latest theoretical basis and practical reference for disease-resistant breeding of snakehead fish. Keywords Snakehead; Disease resistance gene; Immune mechanism; CRISPR/Cas9; Gene editing breeding 1 Introduction Snakehead (Channa argus, etc., also known as mullet and money fish) has become one of the main farmed economic fish in Asia, especially in China, because of its delicious meat and rapid growth (Teng et al., 2024). However, the snakehead aquaculture industry is facing serious disease threats, with frequent outbreaks of various bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases, leading to large-scale deaths and economic losses (Qin, 2023). For example, nocardiosis is a chronic fish disease caused by Nocardia seriolae, which can cause abscesses and granulomas to form in snakehead carp, with a high mortality rate, causing a serious impact on the aquaculture industry. For another example, hemorrhagic septicemia caused by Aeromonas spp. is prone to outbreaks in high-density aquaculture environments. After infection, snakehead carp often show symptoms such as ulceration and bleeding, with a high acute mortality rate (Liu et al., 2021; Weng et al., 2024). In addition, in recent years, a rhabdovirus, the blackfish vesicular virus (SHVV), has been found in snakehead fish, which can cause large-scale hemorrhagic disease. So far, there is no effective vaccine or treatment (Qin et al., 2024). Fish naturally have a certain immunity to infection, and the disease resistance varies greatly among different species and individuals, which is mainly determined by genetic factors. Mining the key genes that control disease resistance through genomic methods will help to clarify the molecular mechanism of host resistance to pathogen infection, and can be used as molecular breeding markers for breeding disease-resistant strains (Fraslin et al., 2020). In traditional breeding, disease resistance traits are often difficult to select directly, while gene mining can locate specific functional gene loci and improve breeding accuracy and efficiency (Zhu et al., 2024). For emerging aquaculture species such as snakehead fish, there is an urgent need to find molecular markers or genes related to disease resistance through gene mining. Mining the disease resistance genes of snakehead fish can not only deepen the understanding of the immune mechanism of fish, but also provide targets for breeding new disease-resistant strains, which is expected to reduce drug dependence and improve the survival rate of aquaculture.
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