Omics research on abalone (Haliotis spp.): current state and perspectives

The steady increase in abalone aquaculture production throughout the world has attracted growing interest in the application of new technologies, such as omics approaches for abalone research. Many omics techniques, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are becoming established in abalone research and are beginning to reveal key molecules and pathways underlying many biological processes, and to identify associated candidate biomarkers of biological or environmental processes. In this contribution, we synthesize the published omics studies on abalone to highlight the current state of knowledge, open questions, and future directions. In addition, we outline the challenges and limitations of each omics field, some of which could be overcome by integrating multiple omics approaches – a future strategy with great potential for contributing to improve abalone production.