Potential Genomic Resources and Their Utilization in Edible Oysters

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Oysters have recently been recognized globally as a preferred species, not only for their high‐quality meat and sustainable aquaculture practices but also for their environmental value including carbon sequestration and nitrogen removal in aquaculture ecosystems. However, ongoing and predicted climate change stressors in coastal oyster farming areas are already threatening traditionally selected oysters and the overall industry output. The use of genomics to breed plants and animals that can handle climate change has become a popular research area, yet the oyster farming industry is only just starting to use genomic tools to identify oyster strains that have important traits like disease resistance, better meat quality, and climate change adaptation. Genomic resources, including molecular markers, genetic linkage maps, transcriptomes, and annotated draft genomes, are increasingly being used to enhance important commercial traits in oysters. Modern genomic resources use a broad array of applications, including population structure demarcation, visualization of migration patterns, pedigree analysis, detection of quantitative trait loci associated with specific traits, marker‐associated breeding, and genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). This article reviews the relevant literature in the field and discusses the application of genomics resources for fast‐forwarding genomic breeding platform development in the oyster industry. The current challenges and future directions for enhancing, optimizing, and leveraging genomic resources in oyster aquaculture are also discussed.