Anti-infectious
immune effectors in marine invertebrates: potential tools for disease
control in larviculture
E. Bachère
Aquaculture, 227(1-4): 427-438
Abstract:
The aquaculture of molluscs and crustaceans is an
economical activity that is threatened by the repeated appearance of new
diseases, non-infectious and infectious, which affect cultured species.
Difficulties in controlling diseases in marine aquaculture come mainly from
the differences in susceptibility of the animals according to their
developmental stage (from larvae to adults) and from the diversity of
pathogens that affect them. Among the causative agents encountered in marine
aquaculture, viral and bacterial problems as well as fungal diseases
dominate the larval production. Methods have been proposed for the control
of disease in aquaculture, such as the use of probiotic bacteria,
immunostimulants or the improvement of the larval quality via the nutrition,
and zootechnical progress has been made. So far, antibiotics have been
intensively used as preventive and curative measures, but such practices are
now questioned because regular use of these chemical products has led to the
appearance of drug-resistant bacteria and can also have harmful effects on
the environment. In this context, alternative treatments as well as animal
health monitoring have to be established as preventive measures. In the long
term, the most effective way for sustainable aquaculture production will
certainly rely upon the production of animals selected for increased
resistance to disease, but until now, few papers can be found on this topic
for marine invertebrates. Today, immune criteria as enhancement of
non-specific defence responses are being considered.
Investigation of the innate immune systems of
molluscs and crustaceans may give new insights into the management and
control of diseases in aquaculture. In particular, antimicrobial peptides
present various application possibilities by their use as therapeutic
agents, as tools for monitoring the health status of cultured animals, and
by the use of encoding genes as selection markers for improving resistance
to infections.
(IFREMER/CNRS/University Montpellier 2, CC 80, 2
Place E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 5, France, e-mail: evelyne.bachere@ifremer.fr)