Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology 2nd Edition: Host–Pathogen Interactions

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 663

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Bio1OneHealth, Lda., Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Pavilhão B1, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Interests: fish parasitology; host–pathogen interaction; fish immunology; marine organisms’ pathology; microbiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. IPMA—Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere, Av. Parque Natural da Ria Formosa s/n, 8700-194 Olhão, Portugal
2. S2AQUAColab—Association for a Sustainable and Smart Aquaculture, Av. Parque Natural da Ria Formosa s/n, 8700-194 Olhão, Portugal
Interests: marine aquaculture; pathology; welfare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The already noticeable implications of global warming associated with changes in pathogen life cycles, transmission, the extension of the infectious season, and the geographical expansion of disease-affected areas, coupled with global warming effects on the fitness and condition of aquatic animals worldwide, are posing new challenges to an already major bottleneck to the aquaculture industry's development and the survival of aquaria and wild marine animals. It is crucial to better understand and characterise disease processes in known and new disease outbreaks, particularly in terms of host–pathogen crosstalk, which will enable the development of innovative solutions and the optimisation of epidemiological models to create countermeasures that can limit the impact of disease on the aquaculture industry and wild/aquarium aquatic animals.

In line with this, the second edition of this Special Issue welcomes original scientific and review articles on key and emerging aquatic animal diseases and their impact on the hosts, covering pathogen characterisation, host–pathogen interaction (e.g., gene/protein expression, extracellular vesicles), transmission (including wild-farmed host interactions), pathogenesis, global warming effects, and novel treatment strategies. Articles focusing on multiomics, new health monitoring techniques, and innovative approaches are also welcome for publication in this Special Issue.

Dr. Márcio Júlio Vicente Moreira
Dr. Florbela Soares
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-blind 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

  • aquatic animals
  • aquaculture
  • aquaria
  • wild communities
  • host–pathogen crosstalk
  • global warming
  • epidemiological models
  • health monitoring
  • omics

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 2358 KB  
Article
Protective Effect of Nanobodies Targeting Sip Protein Against Streptococcus agalactiae Infection in Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
by Zhishen Wang, Huiling Wu, Weihao He, Shunqiang Wei, Xuemin Wei, Chaoshuai Wei, Yinghui Wang and Aiguo Huang
Animals 2025, 15(21), 3207; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15213207 - 4 Nov 2025
Viewed by 495
Abstract
Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) has emerged as one of the most prevalent bacterial pathogens causing severe economic losses in tilapia aquaculture due to its highly contagious and lethal nature. Nanobodies (Nbs), characterized by their small molecular size, enhanced tissue penetration, high tolerance, and exceptional [...] Read more.
Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) has emerged as one of the most prevalent bacterial pathogens causing severe economic losses in tilapia aquaculture due to its highly contagious and lethal nature. Nanobodies (Nbs), characterized by their small molecular size, enhanced tissue penetration, high tolerance, and exceptional antigen-binding affinity, represent a promising green alternative to conventional antibiotics. In the present study, the objective was to explore the potential of specific Nbs in the treatment of tilapia GBS disease. We first screened specific Nbs targeting the surface immunogenic (Sip) protein of GBS from a naïve phage display library, and a novel nanobody Nb30 was obtained. Nb30 was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified using the Ni-NTA Agarose column. Indirect ELISA showed that Nb30 had a high affinity against Sip and GBS in vitro. Moreover, Nb30 significantly reduced GBS colonization in the liver, spleen, and brain of GBS-infected tilapia. The survival rate in the control groups was 53%, whereas it was increased to 86% after treatment with 100 mg/kg Nb30. Transcriptome profiling revealed that Nb30 could modulate critical biological processes, including antioxidant defense, immune regulation, amino acid/protein synthesis, and energy metabolism in the liver tissues of GBS-infection tilapia. Notably, the expression levels of antioxidant enzymes (cat and gpx) were significantly up-regulated, and the TLR/MyD88/NF-κB pathway-related genes (tlr5, myd88, irak4, traf6, Rela, and NF-κB2) were significantly down-regulated after treatment with Nb30. Collectively, these findings establish a novel therapeutic strategy for controlling GBS infection in tilapia and provide evidence supporting the application of nanobodies as sustainable alternatives to antibiotics in aquaculture disease management. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop