Efficient breeding and superior breeds are the premise of sustainable aquaculture. The Research Group of Fish Development and Biotechnology is devoted to the study of fish germ cell development and cutting-edge breeding biotechnology.  

Their research interest is to systematically understand the molecular mechanism of oocyte maturation, egg quality and early embryogenesis, and early gonadal differentiation, from multi-dimensional aspects, including the transcriptional regulation and translation control of maternal factors, and biosynthesis and metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids as well. They also aim to develop rapid and directional breeding technologies, such as genome editing and surrogate reproduction of fishes, etc., to finally generate genetic broodstock with high yield and high quality. 

This group has established a variety of research techniques related to genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, bio-imaging, and multi-omics, and has made significant progress on the basic study of germ cell development and early embryogenesis, large-scale construction of genetic models, and the development of cutting-edge breeding biotechnologies such as surrogate production of genome-edited gametes.  

They have published over 80 articles in reputable journals such as Genome Research, PLOS Biology, Nature Communications, PLOS Genetics, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Endocrinology, Cell Research, Journal of Genetics and Genomics, Science Bulletin. They are currently undertaking research projects from the National Key R&D Program of China, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the Science Fund for Innovation Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences etc. 

Former graduate students: Desheng PEI (Harvard University, Post-doc), Na WANG (Yellow Sea Research Institute, Associate Investigator), Jing LIU (Oil Crops Research Institute, Associate Investigator), Chunhong CHEN (Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Post-doc), Yanwu WANG (Wuhan University, Lecture), Zirong GU (Cincinnati Children's Hospital, PhD candidate), Ishtiaq A. S. Ahmed (Indiana University, Post-doc). 

Recent Publications:  

1.　Ishtiaq Ahmed, A.S., Xiong, F., Pang, S.C., He, M.D., Waters, M.J., Zhu, Z.Y., Sun, Y.H.*, 2011a. Activation of GH signaling and GH-independent stimulation of growth in zebrafish by introduction of a constitutively activated GHR construct. Transgenic Res 20, 557-567. 

2.　Ishtiaq Ahmed, A.S., Yu, L.Q., Zhu, Z.Y., Sun, Y.H.*, 2011b. Comparative expression analysis of GHR signaling related factors in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and an in vivo model to study GHR signaling. Acta Hydrobiol Sinica 35, 727-738. 

3.　Chen, C.H., Sun, Y.H. *, Pei, D.S., Zhu, Z.Y., 2009. Comparative expression of zebrafish lats1 and lats2 and their implication in gastrulation movements. Dev Dyn 238, 2850-2859. 

4.　Liu, Y., Bourgeois, C.F., Pang, S., Kudla, M., Dreumont, N., Kister, L., Sun, Y.H., Stevenin, J., Elliott, D.J., 2009. The germ cell nuclear proteins hnRNP G-T and RBMY activate a testis-specific exon. PLoS Genetics 5, e1000707. 

5.　Luo, D., Hu, W., Chen, S., Xiao, Y., Sun, Y., Zhu, Z., 2009. Identification of differentially expressed genes between cloned and zygote-developing zebrafish embryos at the dome stage using suppression subtractive hybridization. Biology of Reproduction 80, 674-684. 

6.　Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H. *, Zhu, Z.Y., 2009. Identification of a novel gene K23 over-expressed in fish cross-subfamily cloned embryos. Mol Biol Rep 36, 1375-1380. 

7.　Liu, J., Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, Y.W., Wang, N., Pei, D.S., Wang, Y.P., Hu, W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2008. Identification of differential transcript profiles between mutual crossbred embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) by cDNA-AFLP. Theriogenology 70, 1525-1535. 

8.　Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H. *, Chen, C.H., Chen, S.P., Wang, Y.P., Hu, W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2008a. Identification and characterization of a novel gene differentially expressed in zebrafish cross-subfamily cloned embryos. BMC Dev Biol 8, 29. 

9.　Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H.*, Long, Y., Zhu, Z.Y., 2008b. Inhibition of no tail (ntl) gene expression in zebrafish by external guide sequence (EGS) technique. Mol Biol Rep 35, 139-143. 

10.  Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H., Zhu, Z.Y., 2008c. Construction of cytoplasmic molecular markers distinguishing Danio rerio from Gobiocypris rarus at high identity domains based on MP-PCR strategy and Sybr Green I detection. Mol Biol Rep 35, 45-50. 

11.　 Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H.*, Chen, S.P., Wang, Y.P., Hu, W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2007a. Identification of differentially expressed genes from the cross-subfamily cloned embryos derived from zebrafish nuclei and rare minnow enucleated eggs. Theriogenology 68, 1282-1291. 

12.　 Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H., Chen, S.P., Wang, Y.P., Hu, W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2007b. Zebrafish GAPDH can be used as a reference gene for expression analysis in cross-subfamily cloned embryos. Anal Biochem 363, 291-293. 

13.　 Pei, D.S., Sun, Y.H., Chen, S.P., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2007c. Cloning and characterization of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COXI) in Gobiocypris rarus. DNA Seq 18, 1-8. 

14.　Wang, N., Sun, Y.H.*, Liu, J., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2007a. Molecular characterization of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) Sonic Hedgehog and discovery of its maternal expression. Dev Genes Evol 217, 299-305. 

15.　 Wang, N., Sun, Y.H.*, Liu, J., Wu, G., Su, J.G., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2007b. Knock down of gfp and no tail expression in zebrafish embryo by in vivo-transcribed short hairpin RNA with T7 plasmid system. J Biomed Sci 14, 767-776. 

16.　 Liu, J., Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, N., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2006a. Cloning, characterization and promoter analysis of common carp hairy/Enhancer-of-split-related gene, her6. J Genet 85, 171-178. 

17.　 Liu, J., Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, N., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2006b. Upstream regulatory region of zebrafish lunatic fringe: isolation and promoter analysis. Mar Biotechnol (NY) 8, 357-365. 

18.　 Sun, Y.H., Chen, S.P., Wang, Y.P., Hu, W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2005. Cytoplasmic impact on cross-genus cloned fish derived from transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) nuclei and goldfish (Carassius auratus) enucleated eggs. Biology of Reproduction 72, 510-515. 

19.　 Liu, W.Y., Wang, Y., Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, Y.P., Chen, S.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2005. Efficient RNA interference in zebrafish embryos using siRNA synthesized with SP6 RNA polymerase. Development, Growth & Differentiation 47, 323-331. 

20.　 Wu, B.*, Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, Y.W., Wang, Y.P., Zhu, Z.Y., 2005. Characterization of transgene integration pattern in F4 hGH-transgenic common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). Cell Res 15, 447-454. (*equal contribution) 

21.　 Zhi, H., Wang, W., Li, L., Chai, B., Sun, Y., Liang, A., 2005. Cloning and analysis of 16 Rab genes from macronuclear DNA of Euplotes octocarinatus. DNA Seq 16, 260-265. 

22.　 Mao, W., Sun, Y., Wang, Y., Wu, G., Chen, S., Zhu, Z., 2004. Cloning of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) histone H3 promoter and the activity analysis in rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus). Progress in Natural Science 14, 322-326. 

23.　 Wu, B.*, Sun, Y.H.*, Wang, Y.P., Wang, Y.W., Zhu, Z.Y., 2004. Sequences of transgene insertion sites in transgenic F4 common carp. Transgenic Res 13, 95-96. (*equal contribution) 

24.　 Wu, G.*, Sun, Y.*, Zhu, Z., 2003. Growth hormone gene transfer in common carp. Aquat Living Resour 16, 416-420. (*equal contribution) 

25.　 Wang W, Sun YH, Wang YP, Zhu ZY. Expression of grass carp growth hormone in the yeast Pichia pastoris. Acta Genetica Sinica 2003; 30: 301-306. 

26.　Wang, Y., Hu, W., Wu, G., Sun, Y., Chen, S., Zhang, F., Zhu, Z., Feng, J., Zhang, X., 2001. Genetic analysis of all fish growth hormone gene transferred carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and its F1 generation. Chinese Science Bulletin 46, 1174-1177. 

27.　Sun, Y., Chen, S., Wang, Y., Zhu, Z., 2000. The onset of foreign gene transcription in nuclear-transferred embryos of fish. Science in China (Series C) 43, 597-605. 

28.　Wang W, Wang YP, Sun YH, Zhu ZY. Growth acceleration of Yellow river carp following oral administration of recombinant grass carp growth hormone expressed in yeast. High Technology Letters 2000; 10: 5-8. 

29.　Zhu, Z.Y., Sun, Y.H., 2000. Embryonic and genetic manipulation in fish. Cell Res 10, 17-27. 

Book chapters： 

30.　Sun YH, 2010. The innovation of fish gene engineering and its application in fish genetic breeding. In Gene resources and modern fisheries. Published by Science and Technology Press China (Beijing, China) pp76-81. 

31.　Hu W, Wang YP, Sun YH, Zhu ZY, Chen DY, 2009. Cross-species nuclear transfer and inter-species cloning. In: Li N and Zhu ZY (Ed.), Molecular basis of genetic breeding and cloning of animals. Science Press, Beijing, pp. 350-368. 

32.　 Sun, Y., Zhu, Z., 2003. Producing transgenic fish for aquaculture., in: Lee, C.-S. (Ed.), Aquaculture: retrospective and outlook. A joint publication of Asian fisheries society and American fisheries society. Asian Fisheries Society, Manila, Philippines and World Aquaculture Society, Louisiana, USA, pp. 229-246.