Aquaculture最新文献

{"title":"Protective role of oligochitosan in intestinal homeostasis to Edwardsiella ictaluri in hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × Epinephelus lanceolatus ♂)","authors":"Lixin Ma,&nbsp;Zhilong Chen,&nbsp;Zhuojin He,&nbsp;Xiaomin Zheng,&nbsp;Yutao Li,&nbsp;Cuiyun Zhou,&nbsp;Li Lin,&nbsp;Fei Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742923","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742923","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div><em>Edwardsiella ictaluri</em> is a major pathogen that causes severe infections in fish. Oligochitosan has antioxidant and antibacterial properties, and can also regulate the immune system and intestinal flora.</div></div><div><h3>Aims</h3><div>In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of <em>E. ictaluri</em> infection in hybrid grouper and evaluated the effects of oligochitosan supplementation on intestinal health, gut microbiota, and metabolism.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In this study, we employed a combination of histopathology, TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL), biochemical analysis, 16S rRNA sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), transcriptomics, and metabolomics.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div><em>E. ictaluri</em> infection significantly altered goblet cell counts (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), apoptosis rates (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), increased villus height (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), and reduced muscularis thickness (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Oligochitosan intervention effectively restored intestinal structure. Compared to controls, <em>E. ictaluri</em> elevated intestinal superoxide dismutase (SOD) (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) and amylase (AMS) activities (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), while oligochitosan significantly decreased catalase (CAT) activity relative to infected fish (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). The infection also increased bacterial load and disrupted microbiota composition, whereas oligochitosan promoted beneficial genera, including <em>Faecalibaculum</em> and <em>Bacteroides</em>. FISH analysis confirmed increased bacterial colonization post-infection (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), which was alleviated by oligochitosan (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01). Transcriptomics revealed that <em>E. ictaluri</em> altered genes involved in fat absorption and TNF signaling, effects mitigated by oligochitosan. Metabolomics showed infection suppressed D-amino acid, taurine, and hypotaurine metabolism, reducing amino acid levels, while oligochitosan reversed these trends. Multi-omics correlation analyses indicated that oligochitosan modulated intestinal amino acid metabolism by enhancing probiotic-associated pathways.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Collectively, oligochitosan can alleviate <em>E. ictaluri</em> induced by enhancing intestinal tissue integrity and antioxidant defense, maintaining intestinal flora balance, and regulating amino acid metabolism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742923"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144548366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing the spatial configuration of scallop suspended cultivation net cages by leveraging seston flux variables based on the lattice Boltzmann hydrodynamics","authors":"Gangqin Tu ,&nbsp;Haifei Liu ,&nbsp;Zhiming Ru ,&nbsp;Tao Sun ,&nbsp;Wei Yang ,&nbsp;Wei Huang ,&nbsp;Li Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742863","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742863","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Suspended scallop farming using cultivation net cages in long-line cultivation structures is a common aquaculture activity. However, cultivation net cages in scallop production lines form obstacles that block currents. The hydrodynamic characteristics of an individual cultivation net cage, as well as the distance between net cages, can influence natural current circulation, further affecting food distribution and solute transport in the scallop farming environment. One of the challenges in scallop farming is to configure farms to optimize total scallop production and individual scallop quality under different environmental conditions. In this study, the appropriate spatial configuration of scallop farms was evaluated through the seston flux distribution characteristics of individual cultivation net cages under different environmental current speeds. A lattice Boltzmann model was established and validated. Then, this model was used to simulate the flow field and seston concentration around a cultivation net cage. The minimum seston flux disturbance of the cultivation net cage is taken as the criterion of the net cage distance. The longitudinal distance of the net cages was determined based on an 80% recovery of seston flux and a transverse distance of less than 5% flux disturbance. The results indicated that the longitudinal distance between net cages decreases with an increasing background flow velocity, and the transverse distance between net cages has little correlation with the background flow velocity. Thus, this study has potential applicability to improve the reforming and planning aquacultural sites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742863"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144548365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Benefits of using an exogenous protease on the performance, digestibility, and sustainability in white-leg shrimp (L. vannamei) farming","authors":"Ester Santigosa ,&nbsp;Rui J.M. Rocha ,&nbsp;Jorge Dias","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742854","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742854","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The effect of graded supplemental doses of an exogenous protease on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and nitrogen excretion of white leg shrimp (<em>Litopenaeus vannamei</em>) was assessed: A basal diet formulation mimicking a commercial shrimp feed was supplemented with 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg equivalent to 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 NFP/kg (diets CTRL, PRO100, PRO200 and PRO300, respectively) of an exogenous protease. Quintuplicate groups of 65 shrimp (IBW = 0.97 ± 0.1 g) were fed one of the four diets. After 62 days of feeding, final body weight (FBW) and specific growth rate (SGR) were not significantly affected by dietary treatments. Shrimp fed PRO200 and PRO300 diets showed a significantly lower feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed the CTRL and PRO100 diets. Inversely, shrimp fed the diets with the highest enzyme inclusion (PRO200 and PRO300) demonstrated a significantly higher protein efficacy ratio (PER) than those fed the CTRL and PRO100 diets. Shrimp fed the PRO200 diet benefited from a significantly higher whole-body protein retention than those fed the CTRL diet. Irrespective of the dose, protease supplementation led to a significant increase of dry matter and protein digestibility. At the exception of Isoleucine (Ile) and Leucine (Leu), protease supplementation significantly increased the digestibility of all other amino acids. Shrimp fed all the protease-supplemented diets showed significantly lower excretion of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), than those fed the CTRL diet. Overall data supports a beneficial effect of supplemental protease in shrimp, supported by an increase of protein and amino acid digestibility, which resulted in a significant improvement of feed utilization criteria (FCR and PER) and a lower excretion of TAN into the water. To demonstrate full efficacy, future trials should target more stringent scenarios of dietary protein supply, including diets formulated with lower crude protein levels and/or protein sources of lower quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742854"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144480214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Energy modulation in Atlantic salmon: Oleic acid increases adipogenesis and energy deposition","authors":"Beichen Yang ,&nbsp;Matthew K. Jago ,&nbsp;Thomas S. Mock ,&nbsp;Giovanni M. Turchini ,&nbsp;Michael J. Salini ,&nbsp;Richard P. Smullen ,&nbsp;David S. Francis","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742895","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742895","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Due to climate change, water temperatures in Tasmania (Australia) summer are rising at 0.4 °C per decade, exceeding the upper thermal tolerance limits of Atlantic salmon, leading to reduced feed intake, increased metabolic rate, and energy loss. These suboptimal conditions affect growth performance and quality of the final products. Thus, higher energy storage in salmon tissue prior to summer has been envisaged as a strategy to minimise the detrimental effects of this culture phase. The objective of this study was to investigate if dietary oleic acid could increase energy storage in visceral adipose tissue of juvenile Atlantic salmon reared under pre-summer conditions (15 °C), primarily as triacylglycerols, and assess whether it was more effective than high-lipid diets for energy modulation. For this, four diets were formulated and manufactured with two different levels of oleic acid (high and low) and two different total lipid (high and low) and fed to Atlantic salmon (71.8 ± 0.20 g) for 124 days. The results showed Atlantic salmon fed high-lipid diets demonstrated higher growth performance compared to the low-lipid diets, with a significantly lower feed conversion ratio, higher digestible energy retention, and higher triacylglycerol concentration in the fillet. High-oleic acid diets resulted in significantly higher total lipid and triacylglycerol concentrations in visceral adipose tissue compared to low-oleic acid diets. This was achieved via adipocyte hyperplasia originated from the increased provision of the energy substrate, oleic acid, in visceral adipose tissue lipid for triacylglycerol synthesis. Diets containing low lipid and high oleic acid accumulated the highest metabolic energy in visceral adipose tissue and can be considered a viable energy modulation strategy for Atlantic salmon. However, further investigation is needed to understand the long-term effects of triacylglycerol accumulation on fish health to ensure commercial viability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742895"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144513820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of ocean acidification on skeletal structures in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata): In vitro and in vivo studies","authors":"Inmaculada Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Isabel García-Pérez ,&nbsp;Nazanin Sadeghi ,&nbsp;Manel Montblanch ,&nbsp;Joaquim Gutiérrez ,&nbsp;Isabel Navarro ,&nbsp;Encarnación Capilla ,&nbsp;Daniel Garcia de la serrana","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ocean acidification is considered a significant risk to aquaculture, as it may adversely affect the growth and development of aquatic organisms. The effect of ocean acidification has been shown to impair the growth and survival of fish and to increase otoliths calcification in certain species; however, its effects on bone mineralization remain not well studied. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of seawater acidification on the skeletal mineralization of gilthead sea bream juveniles, and to assess the direct impact of distinct pH levels on bone-derived cells development. After 68 days of exposure to low pH, fish exhibited a significantly reduced specific growth rate and elevated plasma pH levels, which influenced electrolyte concentrations such as potassium. Moreover, fish exposed to low pH showed increased otoliths size but no differences in shape. In bone, a higher vertebral length/height ratio was also observed, accompanied by significantly reduced opacity and increased expression of the osteoblast and osteoclast markers, alkaline phosphatase (<em>alp</em>) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (<em>mmp9</em>), respectively, suggesting an elevated rate of bone turnover although reduced mineralization. <em>In vitro</em>, osteoblasts exposed to a low extracellular pH for 30 days exhibited increased viability and mineralization compared to cells maintained at a plasma pH or an alkaline pH. Additionally, the pH level significantly influenced the expression of several extracellular matrix components and osteoblast markers supporting those observations. Overall, these findings underscore the threat that ocean acidification poses to aquaculture, particularly through its impact on skeletal mineralization in gilthead sea bream, and highlight the importance of identifying approaches to farming resilient fish.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742919"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploiting the untapped wild resources: Developing new diploid tetrasporophyte Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars from sporelings of wild cystocarpic parental plants","authors":"Jonh Rey L. Gacura ,&nbsp;Lourie Ann R. Hinaloc ,&nbsp;Rachel N. Oguira ,&nbsp;Bienson Ceasar V. Narvarte ,&nbsp;Ronel T. Aguilar ,&nbsp;Emmanuel M. Mendoza ,&nbsp;Vicenta Z. Projimo ,&nbsp;Michael Y. Roleda","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742916","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742916","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Successive clonal propagation of commercially cultivated haplotypes of <em>Kappaphycus alvarezii</em> from a limited gene pool over decades has plausibly led to strain fatigue and loss of vigor. Henceforth, diversifying the genetic pool of cultivated <em>K. alvarezii</em> became imperative to reverse these trends, and reinvigorate the productivity of the seaweed farming industry. Here, we utilized the spores from wild cystocarpic <em>K. alvarezii</em> to develop new cultivars that may potentially exhibit resilience to various biotic and abiotic stressors. In this study, we investigated the physiological, and biochemical performances of selected next-generation tetrasporophytes from cystocarpic parental plants of <em>K. alvarezii</em>of novel haplotypes<em>,</em> here labeled [strain (haplotype)] as, TR-C5 (KALV-D4), TR-R3(KALV-D3), TR-S8(KALV-D6), cultivated in land-based and sea-based conditions, and compared their performance to the commercially cultivated Tambalang brown strain (commercially farmed haplotype KALV-A3). Growth among the novel strains cultivated in land-based nursery conditions did not significantly vary ranging from 4.19 % day⁻¹ to 5.78 % day⁻¹. However, significant growth variability among strains was observed when cultivated in sea-based conditions ranging from 0.85 % day⁻¹ to 4.47 % day⁻¹ during D30, and 3.18 % day⁻¹ to 5.26 % day⁻¹ by D60. Moreover, susceptibility to ice-ice disease syndrome showed to be strain-specific with TR-S8 demonstrating lesser susceptibility among the novel strains. Except for the total protein, the biochemistry significantly varied among strains and between different cultivation methods (land-based hatchery vs. in situ sea-based farming). Our results further support the importance of exploring the presence of a reservoir of unutilized wild genotypes that can be used in developing new cultivars with superior traits for future domestication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742916"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The IolR regulon contributes to Aeromonas hydrophila virulence in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)","authors":"Tingbi Xu ,&nbsp;Dong Yuhao ,&nbsp;Mohammad J. Hossain ,&nbsp;Damien S. Waits ,&nbsp;Shabarinath Srikumar ,&nbsp;Jeffery S. Terhune ,&nbsp;Charles M. Thurlow ,&nbsp;Joseph C. Newton ,&nbsp;Yongjie Liu ,&nbsp;Mark R. Liles ,&nbsp;Dawei Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742878","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742878","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hypervirulent <em>Aeromonas hydrophila</em> (vAh) causes devastating damage in aquaculture worldwide. All vAh strains utilize myo-inositol (MI) as a sole carbon source prompted the previous study of the MI pathway in virulence. A range of gene-deletion mutants in the MI pathway were investigated through <em>in vivo</em> fish challenges to identify the insignificant role of MI pathway in virulence. However, the unexpected virulence of iolR mutants suggested the importance of IolR regulon as the transcriptional regulator for virulence. This study discerned the role of the IolR regulons on the pathogenesis of vAh. The <em>A. hydrophila</em> ML09–119 <em>iolR</em> gene was mutated to obtain different <em>iolR</em> expression levels. The results showed that increasing IolR expression caused decreased mortality in channel catfish 6 h post challenge, suggesting the role of IolR in repressing virulence gene transcription. A transcriptome analysis was conducted for ML09–119 and mutants. The results indicated that multiple putative genes involved in MI metabolism, fimbrial biogenesis, cell envelope integrity, and horizontal gene transfer might have IolR-regulated transcription, with a palindromic sequence identified as the putative IolR binding site. Notably, when comparing phenotypes of <em>iolR</em> mutants of the channel catfish isolate ML09–119 and the carp isolate NJ-35, the regulation of biofilm formation and auto-aggregation were only observed for the carp isolate, which may reflect host-specific transcriptional regulation. Further study is necessary to understand the differences in the IolR regulon for carp and catfish isolates, as well as the contribution of each of the IolR-regulated genes to vAh pathogenesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742878"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144480213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using a comprehensive donor and host dataset to decipher the heritability and genetic architecture of pearl traits in the black-lipped oyster (Pinctada margaritifera)","authors":"L. Benestan ,&nbsp;C. Massault ,&nbsp;E. Vigouroux ,&nbsp;O. Chevalier ,&nbsp;D.B. Jones ,&nbsp;D.R. Jerry ,&nbsp;J. Le Luyer","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742837","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742837","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since ancient times, natural pearls have captivated mankind for their rarity, value and beauty. Today, commercial pearl culture is based on implanting a seed nucleus along with mantle tissue from a donor oyster into the gonad of a recipient or host oyster. Due to the complexity of the biological system involved (e.g. pearls are the potential product of two genomes from both donor and host oysters), the genetic determinants underlying pearl quality traits remain poorly understood. Our study is the first to combine experimental grafting with genome-wide SNP genotyping to investigate how genetic and environmental factors influence pearl quality in donor and host black-lipped pearl oysters (<em>Pinctada margaritifera</em>). Pearl quality traits such as quality score, lustre, size, nacre thickness, weight and roundness were evaluated on 1821 pearls originating from 214 hatchery-produced donors and 1033 unrelated host oysters, reared at two distinct pearl farms. Using a custom 65 K SNP array, we successfully assigned the 214 donor oysters to 15 half and full-sib families and estimated genetic parameters. In donor oysters, the heritability for quality score and roundness was low, while lustre and nacre deposition traits were moderately heritable (h² &gt; 0.20); gene-environment interactions significantly influenced lustre (σ_GxE = 0.194) but had a negligible impact on other traits. Genome-wide association study on the donor and host genomes revealed six candidate genes associated with pearl quality traits, characterized by patterns of pleiotropy and unique trait-specific variants. Although no interaction between donor and host oysters (σ_GxH &lt; 0.001) was detected, chitin synthase, a candidate gene known to be involved in nacre formation in mollusks, contains SNPs in association with multiple pearl quality traits in both donor and host oysters. Prediction accuracy was improved using an in silico analysis involving the top-ranked 1 K SNPs based on GWAS rather than using all SNPs for the most heritable trait (lustre), uncovering that a lower density SNP panel can be used for genomic selection. Overall, these findings advance our understanding of the heritability and genetic architecture of pearl quality traits in <em>Pinctada margaritifera</em>, providing valuable insights that can inform and guide future breeding programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742837"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144694293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of environmental factors on the control of milky disease in Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)","authors":"Rui Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhigang Zhao ,&nbsp;Kun Guo ,&nbsp;Xu Zhao ,&nbsp;Xiangyi Deng ,&nbsp;Shihui Wang ,&nbsp;Liang Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742942","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742942","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>“Milk disease”, a relatively serious disease with a high infection and mortality rate, frequently threatens the aquaculture of the Chinese mitten crab area, especially in northern China in recent years. To explore effective measures on the “milky disease” control, gradient temperature and pH were designed for the aquaculture of the infected crabs according to the reproductive characteristics of the pathogens. Then, the tissue slice and the immune capacity were detected to analyze the treatment resulting response on the organism immune system; and the bacterial and fungal flora distribution of the hepatopancreas was analyzed to judge the trend of disease development. The results found that low temperature (16 °C) significantly increased the survival percentage of the infected crabs (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), which weakened the damage of the immune system and enhanced immunoenzyme activities (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), but without any significant change in the microbial flora structure, indicating low temperature delayed the onset of disease and can effectively gain time for further treatment and cure measures. High temperature decreased the survival percentage (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), but the only survived crabs showed a much higher immunocompetence and a reduced percent of community abundance of the pathogen in vivo (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). These crabs prompted the characteristics of the “cured” crabs and suggested immunity promotion and the competition/inhibition of the pathogen in vivo would be significant for the prophylaxis and treatment of the milky disease. The survival percentage and fluctuant enzyme activities of alkali-pH groups manifested that alkali pH brought a positive response in the preliminary stage but damaged the immune system of the infected crabs, indicating it is essential to reappraise the adaptability to environmental factors in the infected crabs for disease control. This study is of crucial meaning for establishing new strategies for prevention and control of the “milky disease”.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742942"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144657015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcription of immune genes in ranched southern bluefin tuna show correlations to Cardicola spp. (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) infection","authors":"Maree Widdicombe ,&nbsp;Sarah Eastwood ,&nbsp;Bronwyn E. Campbell ,&nbsp;Cecilia Power ,&nbsp;Barbara F. Nowak ,&nbsp;Paul A. Ramsland ,&nbsp;Nathan J. Bott","doi":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742877","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742877","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Cardicola forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis</em> (Digenea: Aporocotylidae) are significant pathogens affecting the Southern bluefin tuna (SBT), <em>Thunnus maccoyii</em>, aquaculture industry. The aims of this research were to identify a relationship between immune gene expression of SBT and <em>C. forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis</em> infection burdens; and to understand how immune gene expression changes over time during commercial ranching. SBT were collected during commercial operations in 2022 after 4, 8 and 10 weeks of ranching and the transcription of <em>interleukin 1 beta (il1b), interleukin 8 (il8), tumour necrosis factor 2 (tnf2), immunoglobulin m (igm), major histocompatibility complex 2 (mhc2)</em> and <em>t cell receptor beta (tcrb)</em> were measured from the anterior kidney and gills using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). <em>Cardicola forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis</em> infection was quantified as number of eggs/mm of SBT gill filament, number of adult flukes in SBT heart and <em>C. forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis</em> ITS-2 rDNA copy number/mg in SBT gills. Expression of <em>il8</em> and <em>igm</em> in anterior kidney was positively correlated to <em>C. forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis</em> eggs/mm of SBT gill filament and to the copy number of <em>C. forsteri</em> ITS-2 rDNA in SBT gills. Expression of <em>igm</em> and <em>mhc2</em> was higher in SBT positive for adult flukes and the expression of <em>igm, mhc2</em> and <em>tcrb</em> in the anterior kidney was positively correlated to the number of adult flukes in SBT heart. Expression of <em>tcrb</em> in gills was negatively correlated to the number of adult flukes in SBT heart and negatively correlated to the copy number of <em>C. orientalis</em> ITS-2 rDNA. Expression of the adaptive immune genes <em>igm</em>, <em>mhc2</em> and <em>tcrb</em> increased over the ranching duration in the kidney of SBT and the innate immune genes <em>il1b</em> and <em>il8</em> decreased over the ranching duration in SBT gills. Despite evidence of an immune response to <em>C. forsteri</em> and <em>C. orientalis,</em> SBT were not able to clear infections during the standard industry ranching timeline.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8375,"journal":{"name":"Aquaculture","volume":"610 ","pages":"Article 742877"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144502624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}