Molecular Approaches to Aquatic Animal Health: Immunobiology, Infectious Diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance and One Health
A Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) belonging to the section "Molecular Immunology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 451
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food production sectors worldwide and plays a vital role in global food security, nutrition and sustainable livelihoods. However, the increasing emergence of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and environmental stressors continue to threaten sustainable aquaculture, aquatic ecosystem health and global food security. These interconnected challenges underscore the need for a deeper molecular understanding of host immunity, pathogen evolution, antimicrobial resistance and disease transmission within a One Health framework.
Recent advances in molecular sciences—including whole-genome sequencing, comparative genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, molecular diagnostics, microbiome analysis, molecular epidemiology and computational biology—have transformed aquatic animal health research. These technologies provide unprecedented opportunities to elucidate immune regulatory networks, characterize pathogen diversity and evolution, identify virulence determinants and antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, discover diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and support evidence-based disease surveillance and control. These molecular approaches also enable high-resolution characterization of pathogen evolution, transmission dynamics, host adaptation and the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance determinants, thereby strengthening integrated disease surveillance and One Health preparedness.
This Special Issue aims to showcase innovative molecular research that advance aquatic animal health in fish, crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic organisms. We welcome original research articles, reviews, communications and perspectives focusing on molecular immunobiology, infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and One Health. Topics of particular interest include host–pathogen interactions; pathogen genomics, phylogenomics, whole-genome sequencing and comparative genomics; transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and epigenomics; molecular diagnostics and biomarker discovery; antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, resistome analysis and genomic surveillance; microbiome–host interactions; vaccine antigen discovery and development, immunostimulants, immune modulation and host genetic resistance; molecular epidemiology and integrated One Health surveillance. Studies integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning and bioinformatics to analyze molecular datasets and improve disease prediction, molecular diagnostics, genomic surveillance and precision disease management are also encouraged.
By integrating advances in molecular biology with aquatic animal health, infectious disease research, antimicrobial resistance and One Health, this Special Issue aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for disseminating cutting-edge molecular research that supports sustainable aquaculture through improved disease prevention, molecular surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship and evidence-based One Health interventions.
Dr. Partho Debnath
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- aquatic animal health
- molecular immunology
- infectious diseases
- antimicrobial resistance
- One Health
- whole-genome sequencing
- host–pathogen interactions
- comparative genomics
- molecular diagnostics
- molecular epidemiology
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