Genetics and Biotechnology, Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Fish Resources, Suez University, Suez 43518, Egypt.
J Agric Food Chem. 2021 Apr 21;69(15):4343-4355. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c00268. Epub 2021 Apr 9.
For decades, the tight regulatory functions of DNA and RNA have been the focus of extensive research with the goal of harnessing RNA molecules (e.g., microRNA and small interfering RNA) to control gene expression and to study biological functions. RNA interference (RNAi) has shown evidence of mediating gene expression, has been utilized to study functional genomics, and recently has potential in therapeutic agents. RNAi is a natural mechanism and a well-studied tool that can be used to silence specific genes. This method is also used in aquaculture as a research tool and to enhance immune responses. RNAi methods do have their limitations (e.g., immune triggering); efficient and easy-to-use RNAi methods for large-scale applications need further development. Despite these limitations, RNAi methods have been successfully used in aquaculture, in particular shrimp. This review discusses the uses of RNAi in aquaculture, such as immune- and production-related issues and the possible limitations that may hinder the application of RNAi in the aquaculture industry. Our challenge is to develop a highly potent RNAi delivery platform that could complete the desired action with minimal side effects and which can be applied on a large-scale with relatively little expense in the aquaculture industry.
几十年来，DNA 和 RNA 的紧密调控功能一直是广泛研究的重点，目的是利用 RNA 分子（例如 microRNA 和小干扰 RNA）来控制基因表达并研究生物学功能。RNA 干扰 (RNAi) 已被证明可以介导基因表达，已被用于研究功能基因组学，最近在治疗剂方面也具有潜力。RNAi 是一种天然机制和经过充分研究的工具，可用于沉默特定基因。这种方法也在水产养殖中用作研究工具和增强免疫反应。RNAi 方法确实存在局限性（例如免疫触发）；需要进一步开发用于大规模应用的高效且易于使用的 RNAi 方法。尽管存在这些限制，但 RNAi 方法已在水产养殖中成功应用，特别是在虾类中。本综述讨论了 RNAi 在水产养殖中的用途，例如与免疫和生产相关的问题以及可能阻碍 RNAi 在水产养殖行业应用的限制因素。我们的挑战是开发一种高效的 RNAi 递送平台，该平台可以在最小的副作用下完成所需的作用，并且可以在水产养殖行业中大规模应用，费用相对较低。
