Microbiome and Functional Feed Strategies for Disease Prevention and Immune Modulation in Aquatic Species

A special issue of Veterinary Sciences (ISSN 2306-7381). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases in Veterinary Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 284

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Life Sciences, College of Science, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA
Interests: aquaculture; aquatic animal health; host–microbe interactions; disease prevention; immune modulation
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Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
Interests: aquaculture; fish

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Guest Editor
Department of Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: fish diseases; aquatic microbiology; aquaculture biosecurity; diagnostics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food-production sectors worldwide, yet infectious diseases, environmental stressors, antimicrobial resistance, and variable husbandry conditions continue to threaten animal health, welfare, productivity, and sustainability. These challenges have increased the need for preventive, science-based health-management strategies that reduce reliance on antibiotics while improving host resilience and farm performance. This Special Issue will focus on emerging approaches for disease prevention and immune modulation in aquatic species, including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, postbiotics, functional feeds, microbiome-based interventions, immunostimulants, vaccination support strategies, and other nutritional, microbial, and management tools relevant to aquatic veterinary medicine.

The scope of this Special Issue includes finfish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other cultured aquatic organisms in freshwater, brackish, and marine systems. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and short communications addressing host–microbe interactions, gut and environmental microbiomes, innate and adaptive immunity, pathogen control, antimicrobial resistance, stress physiology, health monitoring, biosecurity, and practical applications under hatchery, nursery, and grow-out conditions.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide an interdisciplinary platform that connects mechanistic studies with applied aquaculture and veterinary practice. It will supplement the existing literature by bringing together current evidence on sustainable alternatives to conventional disease control and by identifying research gaps, limitations, and priorities for improving aquatic animal health and production.

Dr. Hisham A. Abdelrahman
Dr. Ivy Jones
Dr. Haitham H. Mohammed
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. Veterinary Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2100 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 animal health
  • microbiome
  • disease prevention
  • immune modulation
  • functional feeds

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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