In a major breakthrough in the country's marine fisheries research, a team of scientists from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Kochi has decoded the entire genome of the Indian oil sardine (Sardinella Longiceps), a widely consumed fish species.
 
The decoded genome, which is 1.077 Gb in size, contains  46,316 protein-coding genes. The decoding was achieved through the Next Generation Sequencing technology by a group of researchers led by Principal Scientist Dr Sandhya Sukumaran.
 
CMFRI Director Dr. A Gopalakrishnan said the decoded genome will be a valuable resource for understanding the biology, ecology, and evolution of the oil sardine and could be used to improve management strategies for conservation and sustainable utilisation.