Research Projects

Clarias magur, a ray-finned catfish, is a model organism that undergoes a seasonal reproductive cycle controlled by various hormones. Catfish can reverse their sex according to environmental, social, and hormonal cues during early development. However, information on gonadal transdifferentiation in sex-changing fishes remains limited. Studies have shown that functional feminization can be achieved through estrogen diet in channel catfish, but hormone treatment cannot regulate male sex development in catfishes. Fish are excellent animal models for studying transdifferentiation during sex reversal. The project aims to identify genes/factors involved in gonadal transdifferentiation in catfish, tissue distribution and localization, and transient gene silencing to identify their functional roles in induced sex reversal.