Genetics and Genomics Applied to Manage Diseases in Aquaculture

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture is the leading source of aquatic food for humans, and it substantially contributes to global food production. It is estimated that the world’s demand for aquatic food will increase by around 13%, reaching 204 million tons by 2030. In this context, aquaculture will address this demand when capture fisheries cannot provide global food supplies. One of the consistent problems in aquaculture is the management of health, since an increased fish density results in elevated stress, often leading to outbreaks of deadly diseases induced by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.

The marine environment could be a source of potential pathogens for organisms. The microbiomes of different animals have been widely explored with well-stablished technologies, such as 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing that identifies, classifies, and quantifies the prokaryote and eukaryote communities of the considered sample.

This Special Issue is open to contributions that integrate different approaches to understand how the disease process is altered by the different conditions in which aquatic organisms live. Research papers that integrate the classical approaches such as histology,  functional immune assays with newly adopted techniques such as NGS, metatranscriptomics, and environmental parameters are encouraged. Reviews are also welcome.

Dr. Antonio Figueras
Dr. Magali Rey
Guest Editors

Dr. Amaro Saco
Guest Editor Assistant

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• aquaculture
• immunology
• host–pathogen interaction
• metatranscriptomics