Microbial Communities and Host Immunity for Resilient and Sustainable Aquaculture
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 1109
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
As global demand for aquatic food products increases, the aquaculture industry faces a critical challenge. The sector must sustain intensive production outputs while simultaneously navigating the pressures of a changing climate and emerging disease threats. Achieving food security requires understanding of the microorganisms underpinning the health of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic invertebrates.
This Special Issue explores the role of microbial communities in aquaculture. We invite original research, reviews, and short communications ranging from foundational microbiome profiling to mechanistic studies on immunomodulation. We aim to understand how these communities establish, evolve, and can be leveraged to optimize disease resistance and production.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Microbial diversity: Baseline characterization and comparative analysis across developmental stages and environment.
- Microbiome modulation: The application of probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics in functional aquafeeds.
- Host–microbe interactions: Mechanisms of immunomodulation and mucosal health across the gut, skin, and gills.
- Environmental resilience: Microbial adaptation strategies in response to climate change, thermal stress, and water quality fluctuations.
- Disease control: Novel alternatives to antibiotics, including phage therapy and quorum sensing inhibition.
- Sustainable systems: Microbial ecology within Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RASs), biofloc technologies, and open-water systems.
Dr. Wanilada Rungrassamee
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- aquaculture
- microbiome
- probiotics
- functional feeds
- host immunity
- disease
- shrimp
- fish
- shellfish
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