Sex Control in Aquaculture Breeding in China: Advances in Genes, Mechanisms, and Applications

Sex control technology has become a key technique in aquatic animal breeding, as many aquatic species exhibit distinct sexual dimorphism in growth, reproduction, immunity, and other economically important traits. Therefore, methods such as regulating sex ratios and establishing unisexual populations can significantly enhance aquaculture productivity and breeding efficiency. Recent years have seen a rapid advancement in the field of research on the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in aquatic animals, as well as sex control technologies. This review summarizes the latest advances in research on the mechanisms of sex formation in aquatic animals, including genetic sex determination, environmental sex determination, and genotype-environment interactions. Furthermore, this review outlines the major sex-linked genes and molecular markers used for genetic sex identification, introduces key male and female regulatory factors involved in gonadal differentiation, and explores the application of major sex control methods in aquaculture breeding, including techniques such as interspecific hybridization, environmental regulation, hormone induction, parthenogenesis, and gene editing.