Shing fish's life secret revealed for the first time in Bangladesh

In order to maintain food and nutrition security by sustaining the species of native shing fish, the genome sequence of this native shing fish has been revealed for the first time and the possible genes determining male and female fish have been identified by a team led by Professor Dr Taslima Khanam, from Fisheries Biology and Genetics Department of Bangladesh Agricultural University.

The project, initiated by the Fisheries Biology Department of BAU in 2020 with its own funding, was completed by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) from 2022 to 2024. Using the PacBio HiFi Long Read (Revio) sequencing technology, samples of Shing collected from the Brahmaputra River were sequenced at the University of Tokyo in Japan. Subsequently, utilising supercomputers, the first draft genome of Shing was created through bioinformatic analysis.

Taslima Khanam said, "The genome sequence was completed through bioinformatic analysis using state-of-the-art sequencing technology and supercomputers. The research is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) from 2022 to 2024. Nityanand, Swarna, Halima, Jasmin, Kaniz and Sara, post graduate students of the Department of Fisheries, also helped in the research work."

About the results of the study, its lead researcher said that it is possible to identify male and female shing fish with the draft genome developed in the study, which is the first time for any native fish species. Through this it will be possible to produce only female shing fish.