DNA microarray technology and its application in fish biology and aquaculture

Fishery is an important industry in China as well as in the rest of the world,and it provides a human food resource containing high-quality protein.Best practice in aquaculture requires a full understanding of the genomic controls and transcriptional profiles of cultured fish species.Improvements in aquaculture can be made by regulation of the expression of functional genes.Microarray technology is a powerful tool for rapid screening of genes or transcriptional profiles in a particular fish or for a particular economic character;for example,genes that are related to growth and disease control in the fish.This review provides a brief introduction to microarray technology and its methods and applications,together with a discussion of the achievements in fish biology that have resulted from this technology.