Web Summary The Laboratory of Fish Biology was established in the main campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang in 2001. Nutritional aspects of several ornamental freshwater species such as discus, fighting fish and livebearers are studied in the laboratory. It also provides facilities to support zebrafish culture and breeding. Realizing that biotechnology promises exciting discoveries and support from important funding agencies, the laboratory started emphasizing the use of molecular tools to interpret our findings at the genome, biochemical and cellular levels from 2003 onwards. Currently, the laboratory is using zebrafish to understand the influence of dietary fatty acids on the reproductive performance and larval quality. The availability of zebrafish desaturases and elongases genes sequences, coupled with several other immune-related genes is expected to help the researchers investigate the utilization and distribution of fatty acids during active reproduction stages. Besides zebrafish, the laboratory is also looking into the broodstock nutrition of freshwater live bearer species such as guppy and swordtail. The laboratory is pursuing the study of organogenesis in zebrafish and its relevance in larviculture. Ontogenic mapping of organ maturation is important in larviculture as most fish larvae have immature and undeveloped organs at hatch. The researchers are currently focusing on the interrennal gland, which is crucial in mediating stress in fish. They have cloned several genes that may play a role in interregnal development and are currently testing these genes out to confirm their validity as suitable marker for interrenal development. Another interesting on-going project is the mapping of the mucus proteome from discus fish utilizing proteomics platform. Findings from this study are expected to yield important information on the control and secretion mechanisms of vital proteins in fish mucus. The laboratory expects the next two years to be exciting in terms of research progress. Ties with leading institutes in molecular biology such as National University of Singapore are being strengthened in order to enable the lab to embark on more research projects in molecular biology relevant to aquaculture. It is also in the midst of securing research collaborations with other institutions such as Nagasaki State University and Department of Fisheries, Western Australia. The laboratory is ably supported by 11 post graduate students from Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Yemen. Full Paper
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