Nutritional and microbiological studies in larval aquaculture

Research at the Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center has evolved from basic and applied research on the breeding biology of the brine shrimp Artemia to a multidisciplinary study of the cultivation of larval fish and shellfish in collaboration with research groups at home and abroad . The effect of administering microbiota of organisms on growth, gut development, immune response and survival is examined. A gnotobiotic These industry standard culture method was designed with Artemia as a test organism and axenically cultured yeasts and algae. The mechanisms of action of several, whether or not tentative probionts is examined on the basis of histological techniques and / or fluorescence microscopy (with labeled micro-organisms), and microbiological techniques (quorum-sensing degraders, reporter strains). These standardized gnotobiotic culture method directly or indirectly nutritional effect of microorganisms can be examined as well as the question of the involvement of micro-organ simen in the production of digestive enzymes. Such a gnotobiotic system was further extended to fish larvae result of which the need arose to a gnotobiotic food chain. That could only be achieved through collaboration / knowledge with researchers from home and abroad. Further expansion of this method is planned for the larval culture of bivalves considering the increasing importance of bivalves in aquaculture. The fundamental interdisciplinary approach produces clear results: there are already 10s joint A1 publications resulted from the research community. The continuation of this research community aquaculture will allow to consolidate this cooperation and further expand through frequent exchange of researchers (esp. Doctoral students and post-docs) and by organizing international workshops and working meetings to prepare for new research projects.