Dr Xueyan Shen ~ Senior Lecturer Aquaculture

Dr. Xueyan Shen obtained her M.Sc in Aquaculture and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Ocean University of China in 2004 and 2007, respectively. After that, she started her Postdoctoral work on maintenance of genomic resources for the National BioResource Project Medak in NIBB (Okazaki, Japan). From 2010, she worked in the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), Singapore, where as a Research Fellow, she led several research teams towards increasing Singapore’s food fish supply through application of aquaculture genomics R&D. She has now joined James Cook University in Singapore where she will continue to apply her state-of-the-art teaching and genetic research approaches to help Singapore as well as other Asia counties achieve their aquaculture related food security strategy.

Research Focus

Dr. Shen’s research focus is on the development of “robust” aquaculture strains to boost seafood production. She has conducted genomics-assisted selection on two economically important fish, namely Asian seabass/barramundi and Mozambique tilapia, and also the ornamental fish Asian arowana. Specific areas of her research interest include: 1) development and application of new genomic resources and genetic tools to selective breeding; 2) elucidation of the genetic basis underlying commercially important traits such as disease resistance, fast growth, and adaption to various environmental stressors through deep RNA sequencing, QTL mapping, whole genome association studies (GWAS) as well as genomic selection (GS). As a Senior Lecturer at JCU Singapore, Dr. Shen is keen to continue to collaborate with partners from commercial industry, government universities/institutes to create ‘State of the art’genomic platforms to further improve the productivity and quality of food fish species.

Impact of Research

Her research into the genetic improvement of Asian seabass and tilapia have allowed for a ‘quantum leap’ in generation of more superior broodstock leading to more efficient and greater productivity of foodfish products. In addition, tools she has developed will be easily applicable and adaptable to the aquaculture systems of other tropical marine fish species, advancing their production systems from the current most traditional methods into modern, science-assisted aquaculture.

Teaching

• AQ3004: Aquaculture: Stock Improvement (Level 3; SIN)

Interests

Research

• • Aquaculture new genomic tools development and application • Aquaculture genetics • Aquaculture disease • Selective breeding

Research Disciplines

• Zoology (3109)
• Fisheries sciences (3005)
• Bioinformatics and computational biology (3102)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Fisheries - aquaculture (1002)
• Expanding knowledge (2801)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Poon Z, Shen X, Angelo J, Terence C, Chua S and Domingos J (2022) Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals factors involved in the influence of dietary astaxanthin on body colouration of Malabar Snapper (Lutjanus malabaricus). Aquaculture, 562.
• Domingos J, Shen X, Terence C, Senapin S, Dong H, Tan M, Gibson-Kueh S and Jerry D (2021) Scale Drop Disease Virus (SDDV) and Lates calcarifer Herpes Virus (LCHV) coinfection downregulate immune-relevant pathways and cause splenic and kidney necrosis in barramundi under commercial farming conditions. Frontiers in Genetics, 12.
• Gibson-Kueh S, Terence C, Chew X, Uichanco J and Shen X (2021) PCR, in-situ hybridization, and phylogenetic analysis suggest that ‘big belly’ disease in barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Bloch), is caused by a novel Vibrio species. Journal of Fish Diseases, 44 (12). pp. 1985-1992
• Orbán L, Shen X, Phua N and Varga L (2021) Toward genome-based selection in Asian seabass: what can we learn from other food fishes and farm animals? Frontiers in Genetics, 12.
• Li J, Bian C, Hu Y, Mu X, Shen X, Ravi V, Kuznetsova I, Sun Y, Xinxin Y, Qui Y, Zhang X, Yu H, Huang Y, Xu P, Gu R, Xu J, Orban L, Venkatesh B and Shi Q (2016) A chromosomelevel genome assembly of the Asian arowana, Scleropages formosus. Scientific Data, 3.
• Shen X, Ngoh S, Thevasagayam N, Prakki S, Bhandare P, Tan A, Tan G, Singh S, Phua N, Vij S and Orbán L (2016) BAC-pool sequencing and analysis confirms growth-associated QTLs in the Asian seabass genome. Scientific Reports, 6.
• Vij S, Kuhl H, Kuznetsova I, Komissarov A, Yurchenko A, Van Heusden P, Singh S, Thevasagayam N, Prakki S, Purushothaman K, Saju J, Jiang J, Mbandi S, Jonas M, Hin Yan Tong A, Mwangi S, Lau D, Ngoh S, Liew W, Shen X, Hon L, Drake J, Boitano M, Hall R, Chin C, Lachumanan R, Korlach J, Trifonov V, Kabilov M, Tupikin A, Green D, Moxon S, Garvin T, Sedlazeck F, Vurture G, Gopalapillai G, Kumar Katneni V, Noble T, Scaria V, Sivasubbu S, Jerry D, O'Brien S, Schatz M, Dalmay T, Turner S, Lok S, Christoffels A and Orbán L (2016) Chromosomal-level assembly of the Asian seabass genome using long sequence reads and multi-layered scaffolding. PLoS Genetics, 12 (4). pp. 1-35

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• The Epidemiology of 'Scale Drop Disease' in Farmed Lates Calcarifer in Singapore (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) as an early Detection and Monitoring Tool for Fish Ectoparisites Affecting Aquaculture in Southeast Asia (PhD , External Advisor)
• Nutritional Requirement Study and Optimised Feed Development for Red Snapper (PhD , External Advisor)
• Genomic selection of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) for improved scale drop disease virus (SDDV) resistance, growth, and fillet traits (PhD , Secondary Advisor)