Understanding the role of microbes in health and disease of farmed aquatic organisms

Aquaculture is critical to reduce protein deficiencies and supplement the world's demand for seafood. However, the culture environment predisposes farmed animals to infectious diseases. In particular, the high density of fish, crustacean, mollusk, sea cucumber or algal species allows for the rapid spread of infectious diseases resulting in devastating losses. Massive amounts of antibiotics have been used to sustain aquaculture production. This has led to the critical need to evaluate the impact of current control measures and optimize disease management schemes with an emphasis on global impact and sustainability. Furthermore, local and global changes have enhanced the pathogens' effects over aquaculture settings because increased temperature and pollution may trigger virulence genes and toxin production. Technological developments including biofloc technology, integrated multitrophic systems, recirculating aquaculture systems and probiotics have contributed to enhancing aquaculture sustainability and reducing the need for high loads of antibiotics and other chemicals. Furthermore, biotechnological tools (e.g., omics and cell biology) have shed light on cellular processes in the health and disease of reared organisms. Metagenomics is a reliable and relatively quick tool to identify microbial communities in aquaculture settings.