Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Important Phenotypic Traits in Aquatic Animals

Aquatic genomics has become a central field in understanding how genome organization and regulatory dynamics shape phenotypic diversity and important phenotypic traits across aquatic animals. Despite substantial advances in genomic resources for fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, much remains unknown about how higher-order genome structure and epigenetic mechanisms contribute to complex traits such as growth, stress resilience, reproduction, and disease resistance. Recent evidence suggests that not only nucleotide variations but also dynamic genome organization — such as chromatin conformation, histone modification, DNA methylation, and non-coding RNA networks — play critical roles in regulating key physiological processes. However, the extent and mechanisms through which these genomic and epigenomic dynamics influence important phenotypic traits remain largely unexplored. Integrating multi-omics technologies now offers new opportunities to connect genome architecture with phenotypic expression, yet systematic studies in aquatic systems are still limited.

This Research Topic aims to elucidate the genome-level regulatory mechanisms underlying important phenotypic traits in aquatic animals by integrating studies of genome organization, chromatin dynamics, and transcriptional regulation. The goal is to uncover how structural and epigenetic modifications shape gene activity and phenotype manifestation under various environmental conditions. Through identifying genome features associated with key traits and characterizing their dynamic interactions, this Research Topic seeks to bridge the gap between molecular genetics and functional genomics. Ultimately, it aims to provide foundational insights into the genomic and epigenomic architecture that supports adaptive plasticity, phenotypic diversity, and sustainability across aquatic animal populations.

To gather further insights into the genome organization and dynamic regulation of important phenotypic traits in aquatic animals, this Research Topic welcomes studies addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Structural and functional organization of aquatic animal genomes and its relation to complex traits
o Chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and histone modification dynamics influencing growth, reproduction, and stress tolerance
o Roles of non-coding RNAs and transcriptional networks in regulating trait-associated pathways
o Multi-omics integration to map genome–phenotype interactions and regulatory architectures
o Environmental and developmental modulation of genome organization and gene expression plasticity
o Evolutionary and comparative analyses of genome regulation across aquatic taxa
o Genome editing and 3D genome mapping approaches to study regulatory dynamics

We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Methods manuscripts.