Professor XU Peng from Xiamen University Visits IHB on March 25, 2024 (Credit: IHB)

On the morning of March 25th, professor XU Peng, Vice Dean of the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences at Xiamen University, was invited to the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IHB), for academic exchange, delivering a lecture titled "Exploration and Practice of Fish Genomic Breeding." This lecture was the third session of the IHB's Innovation Lecture Series for 2024. 

Professor XU Peng elaborated on his years of research in fish genetics and genetic breeding, focusing on four aspects: genomic studies and genetic evolution in the Cyprinidae family, genomic resources and genetic tools in large yellow croaker, advancements in genomic selection breeding of large yellow croaker, and future breeding directions and technological explorations. He first reviewed the evolution of genomics and genetics, highlighting the rapid development of sequencing technology as a tool for scientific problem-solving. Drawing from the current status of China's large yellow croaker aquaculture industry, Professor XU Peng emphasized the industry's challenges and bottlenecks, advocating for breeding as an effective solution. Through the investigation of fish germplasm resources and the analysis of population genetic structure, Professor XU Peng has discovered genetic variation sites of the fish studied and developed genetic analysis tools. His team made significant progress in genetic selection breeding techniques for disease-resistant traits in large yellow croaker, including GS selection breeding for resistance to Cryptocaryon irritans and breeding of new strains resistant to visceral white spot disease. Leveraging genomic information and multi-trait comprehensive evaluation, they achieved efficient and precise breeding of disease-resistant new strains of large yellow croaker. Additionally, Professor XU Peng shared two new explorations: swimming ability and robustness characterization in large yellow croaker and a non-invasive method for measuring fish heart rate, along with the development of two new tools: an intelligent system for measuring individual feeding rates and an automated system for measuring body size-body shape indices. The lecture sparked widespread interest among attendees, leading to in-depth discussions on leveraging genomic resources, developing genomic-scale genetic analysis tools, and addressing scientific issues in genetics research. 

Professor XU Peng currently serves as Vice Dean of the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences at Xiamen University and Director of the National Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology. He is a recipient of the National Outstanding Youth Fund (2022), the National "Ten Thousand Talents Program" Leading Talent in Science and Technology Innovation (2019), and the National Excellent Youth Science Fund (2014). His research primarily focuses on fish genetics and genetic breeding, and he has led various national-level research projects. Professor XU Peng has received several accolades, including the China Young Science and Technology Award and serves on the editorial boards of academic journals such as Aquaculture, GENE, Scientific Data, Marine Biotechnology, and Science Bulletin. To date, he has published over 200 papers in journals such as Nature Genetics and Nature Communications, with 12 patents granted and receiving awards such as the National Science and Technology Progress Second Prize.