Título: Danio rerio as a functional feed tester
Resumen: Aquaculture is an industrial activity of great economic interest due to its great growth potential. At the Andalusian Institute of Blue Biotechnology and Development (IBYDA, Málaga), we are collaborating in the creation of a sustainable aquaculture by increasing its productive efficiency. To this end, we are focused on identifying substances that can be incorporated into feeds with potential beneficial effects both on fish growth and resistance to infectious diseases, one of the greatest threats to this industry. Zebrafish is a widely accepted model species [1]. It shows numerous advantages to study microbial infection that include an advanced genetics, easy reproduction and growth or a temporal separation between appearance of innate and adaptive immune responses [2]. In addition, there is a great diversity of transgenic and mutant lines appropriate for this study. Beside this, there is an increasing variety of applications of zebrafish in biomedical or veterinary research that include assays for screening of anti-inflammatory [3], immunomodulator [4], or even antitumor [5] drugs. In this communication, we advance recent results of our group on the use of zebrafish as a functional feed tester prior to its application to gilt-head bream, sea bass or sole in culture. At a first step, we have developed functional feeds that incorporate additives of microbial or algal origin. Growing zebrafish populations are then fed with the functional feeds and challenged to recurrent pathogens, such as the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), betanodavirus or Aeromonas hydrophila infections, as well as tissue damages, also common in fish farms. Protection against infection or regenerative potential are now being analysed and molecular responses studied. Positive effects of functional feeds are being measured that lead us to expect a progress in the current technology readiness level to a next step of application to commercial species.
Congreso: BAC Málaga 2025
