Practical Considerations of Molecular Parentage Analysis in Fish

Pedigree information is important in selective breeding programs and hatchery management of aquaculture. However, in aquaculture species, tagging of young fish with physical tags is very difficult. Molecular parentage analyses have been used in reconstructing pedigrees in aquaculture species since the 1990s. Some studies have been carried out to optimize every step to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of molecular parentage analysis. However, molecular parentage analysis of a large number of individuals is still too expensive because some steps of molecular parentage analysis are very cost-intensive. In this review, we have summarized the techniques of major steps in parentage analysis, and provided a guide for aquaculture scientists on how to cost-effectively and rapidly extract DNA from a large number of samples, select the right types of DNA markers, optimize multiplex polymerase chain reaction, and select appropriate methods and software to analyze the genotyping data for reconstructing pedigrees. In addition, we discuss the challenges and future directions of molecular parentage analysis in aquaculture species.