The importance of multi-omics approaches for the health assessment of freshwater ecosystems

Abstract

Background: The major goals of monitoring aquatic animals are to understand ecosystem health status and to identify signals of environmental change and pollution. Over the past few decades, advances in individual omics technology have been expanded to aquatic ecotoxicology and health assessment. The single-omics approach has produced one type of result, but recently, the combined multi-omics approach has enabled depiction of multidimensional datasets for holistic interpretation regarding the molecular responses of biological systems. Objective: In this mini review, the power of the multi-omics approach for monitoring the health of freshwater animals is described, along with a discussion on challenges and the current limitations in the complexity of integrating multidimensional datasets. Results: Recent studies have suggested that the aquatic ecotoxicology field can benefit significantly using multi-omics platforms; however, the examples of multi-omics applications remain limited. The complex metabolism underlying the sensitivity, health status, response, tolerance, and adaptation of certain aquatic organisms can be uncovered through comprehensively integrated omics results and advanced bioinformatics. Conclusion: Multi-omics approaches can provide crucial datasets for developing multidimensional biomarkers and deciphering novel biological insights into aquatic ecotoxicology and health assessments. This platform provides a novel opportunity for environmental scientists to connect the biological responses and chemical data in aquatic organisms exposed to environmental challenges.