CENTRE FOR FISH IMMUNOLOGY

 Thrust areas of research

Plant derived immunostimulants

Aquaculture faces substantial annual loss of production due to diseases. Antibiotics and chemo-therapeutic   agents   are   being   used   to    control microbial   diseases in   aquaculture systems. These agents   are   not   only    expensive,   they   are also environmental pollutants.  Further, they may result in the development of antibiotic resistant strains of microbes.  In this context, terrestrialand marine plant-derived, immunostimulating   compounds    offer promising results due to its broad spectral activity and cost-effectiveness.   India    has    been    bestowed   with enormous   wealth of traditional terrestrial medicinal plants and marine plants. Hence  the  centre  aims  at  studying  the  immunostimulatory  and  antibacterial properties of these plants’  extracts in fish for developing the processes and the products for wider application   of   them   as  immunoprophylactics  and therapeutics  in finfish aquaculture sector in this country.

Heavy metal induced immunomodulation

Aquatic environment of fish is in close contact with numerous pollutants.  Aquatic  pollutants such  as  heavy  metals  modulate the  immune system  of  fish,  thus  increasing  the  host susceptibility  to  infectious  pathogens. So, one of  the  aims  of  the centre is to investigate the effect  of   heavy   metals   such   as  chromium, selenium,  cadmium  and   mercury  on  the immune  status  of  fish. This assessment of the immune status of fish is not only helpful as the source  of  basic  immunotoxicological information  but  also as immuno-indicators for  monitoring fish health in extensive fish cultures in large lakes and ponds and for risk assessment during  periods  of  fluctuating  heavy  metal concentration in natural and farm environments.

Stress-induced immunomodulation

Intensive aquaculture practices where culture fish is  usually  over  crowded  often  result in stress-mediated  immunosuppression  in  fish, leading  to  sudden  outbreak  of  fish diseases. This laboratory aims at finding the mechanism behind stress–mediated immunosuppression in fish.  Another  related  area  of  interest is the  effect  of  complex  social  interactions among  the  culture  fish  communities  (all  male,  all  female or  mixed  population)  on  the immune  system  of  fish.  This approach can help fish farmers to device species-friendly management practices thereby preventing heavy loss due to outbreak of diseases.