Recent advances in crustacean genomics and their potential application in aquaculture

Genomic resources are increasingly being used to improve the production efficiency and profitability of aquaculture. Crustaceans are a large group of invertebrates that encompasses some of the most important farmed species in the aquaculture industry. However, very few crustacean genomes have been published although an aquaculture genome project was proposed as early as 1997. Breakthroughs in next-generation and third-generation sequencing technologies and the development of high-complexity sequence assembly strategies have promoted the publication of an increasing number of crustacean genomes, thus paving a broad way for biological and genetic studies and applications in aquaculture. In this review, we summarize recent advances in crustacean genomic research as of June 2022, including genome sequencing and assembly, genomic characteristics, and the genetic mechanisms underlying various biological phenotypes, such as environmental adaptation, lifestyle, development, and sex determination. This review also discusses the application of crustacean genomes in aquaculture, including genetic dissection of economic traits and genome-based selective breeding via genome-wide association studies and genomic selection. High-quality genomes are important not only for understanding the genetic basis of biologically and economically important traits but also for the genetic improvement of aquaculture species. However, the utilization of crustacean genomics still lags far behind those in other animals. Therefore, additional multi-omics studies and technological development are needed to accelerate the application of genomics in aquaculture.