Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a group of short peptides in vertebrates, independently or derived from big proteins (AMP precursors), for innate immune adaptation to fight against exogenous pathogens. Therefore, they provide attractive templates for us to develop new alternatives to antibiotics, which will relieve the threats of microbial resistance and drug residual. Fish reside in various environments; however, AMP research in fish have long been lagged behind. These highly diverse peptides in fish, regardless whether they are digested from proteins or not, constitute a sophisticate line for host defense. Exploring AMPs’ detailed composition in fish will benefit us with a better understanding of them in vertebrates. This mini-review presents brief descriptions of AMPs and their research advances in fish, using zebrafish as the representative and comparing this model fish with well-studied amphibious mudskippers and tetraploid Atlantic salmon. Common features and species-specific characteristics among various fish provide valuable genetic resources for high-throughput development of novel antibiotic alternatives. In addition, the diversity and heterogeneity in tissue distribution also revealed the complex synergism of AMPs/AMP precursors. These big datasets of genomes and transcriptomes lay a solid foundation for theoretic researches and practical applications of AMPs in fish aquaculture and drug development.

抗菌肽（AMPs）是脊椎动物中的一组短肽，独立或来源于大蛋白（AMP前体），用于先天免疫适应以对抗外源病原体。因此，它们为我们提供了有吸引力的模板，以开发新的抗生素替代品，从而减轻了微生物耐药性和药物残留的威胁。鱼生活在各种环境中；但是，AMP在鱼类方面的研究长期落后。鱼类中这些高度多样化的肽，无论它们是否从蛋白质中被消化，都构成了用于宿主防御的复杂品系。探索AMPs在鱼类中的详细组成将有助于我们更好地了解脊椎动物中的AMPs。本小篇幅评论简要介绍了AMP及其在鱼类中的研究进展，以斑马鱼为代表，并将此模型鱼与经过充分研究的两栖鱼sk和四倍体大西洋鲑鱼进行比较。各种鱼类之间的共同特征和特定物种特征为新型抗生素替代品的高通量开发提供了宝贵的遗传资源。此外，组织分布的多样性和异质性也揭示了AMPs / AMP前体的复杂协同作用。这些庞大的基因组和转录组数据集为AMP在鱼类水产养殖和药物开发方面的理论研究和实际应用奠定了坚实的基础。各种鱼类之间的共同特征和特定物种特征为新型抗生素替代品的高通量开发提供了宝贵的遗传资源。此外，组织分布的多样性和异质性也揭示了AMPs / AMP前体的复杂协同作用。这些庞大的基因组和转录组数据集为AMP在鱼类水产养殖和药物开发方面的理论研究和实际应用奠定了坚实的基础。各种鱼类之间的共同特征和特定物种特征为新型抗生素替代品的高通量开发提供了宝贵的遗传资源。此外，组织分布的多样性和异质性也揭示了AMPs / AMP前体的复杂协同作用。这些庞大的基因组和转录组数据集为AMP在鱼类水产养殖和药物开发方面的理论研究和实际应用奠定了坚实的基础。