NEW DELHI: Ompok bimaculatus, a freshwater fish popularly known as Pabda, has genes similar to those responsible for the development of hands, legs and the skeleton in humans, according to a study done by researchers at AIIMS, Delhi.
“The Ompok bimaculatus genome was assembled using hybrid NGS sequencing approach. The genome assembled has a Busco completeness of 86 per cent and genes identified were 21,371. This will in turn help scientific community to understand the genetics of Pabda fish,” says the study.
The study, which began one and a half years ago, was headed by Subhradip Karmakar, associate professor, biochemistry. Bangalore-based Eurofin Genomics and researchers Ruby Dhar, Sandipan Gupta and Arpita Ghosh were also involved in the study.
“Fish can be used as a good model system to study human evolution. Previous studies have established a link between fish and humans. This is the first study that establishes a link between Pabda and humans,” Karmakar said.
Pabda is considered an excellent source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.
The study also throws light on genomic information on the fish that will help in disease management, captive breeding and understanding production and performance traits to help improve production and profits in aquaculture.
“Pabda is on the IUCN red list of threatened species. With our genome information we can help in captive breeding so that the species doesn’t become extinct,” the researcher noted.
“We have found ways to understand the immune system of Pabda and come up with solution to increase breeding without fresh water.”