| Summary: |
Aquaculture is an emerging industrial sector that requires continued research with scientific and technical
developments and innovation, contributing in 40% to global fish production and almost all the seaweeds production.
Tenacibaculum maritimum, a Gram-negative bacterium, has been described as the etiological agent of an ulcerative
disease known as tenacibaculosis, which affects a large number of marine fish species in the world and is of
considerable economic significance to aquaculture producers. The pathology of the disease has mainly been
associated with characteristic lesions on the body surface of fish such as ulcers, necrosis, eroded mouth, frayed
fins and tail rots, and sometimes necrosis on the gills and eyes. Problems associated with epizootics include high
mortality rates, increased susceptibility to other pathogens, high labor costs of treatment and enormous expenditures
on chemotherapy.
Although there is an intensive research towards diagnostic procedures, the prevention and control strategies are still
emergent issues. The antibiotic development continues to be a stagnate search area. In particular, no new classes of
antibiotics to treat Gram-negative bacilli were discovered for more than 40 years and consequently antibiotic resistance
continues to spread like wildfire.
Taking into account the economic importance of the marine fish diseases in the aquaculture industry and the increasing
need of finding new antibiotics, the main goal of the project is to develop new, selective and potent antibacterial
agents inspired on natural products, of vegetal or marine origin, to treat tenacibaculosis and improve the culture of
other marine species of commercial value. The ABFISH team has been conducting research in the area of Medicinal
Chemistry (drug discovery and development) and Applied Microbiology for some time. Accordingly, the main strategy
of ABFISH?s project is to take advantage of each participants? expertise, which have the stat  |
Summary
Aquaculture is an emerging industrial sector that requires continued research with scientific and technical
developments and innovation, contributing in 40% to global fish production and almost all the seaweeds production.
Tenacibaculum maritimum, a Gram-negative bacterium, has been described as the etiological agent of an ulcerative
disease known as tenacibaculosis, which affects a large number of marine fish species in the world and is of
considerable economic significance to aquaculture producers. The pathology of the disease has mainly been
associated with characteristic lesions on the body surface of fish such as ulcers, necrosis, eroded mouth, frayed
fins and tail rots, and sometimes necrosis on the gills and eyes. Problems associated with epizootics include high
mortality rates, increased susceptibility to other pathogens, high labor costs of treatment and enormous expenditures
on chemotherapy.
Although there is an intensive research towards diagnostic procedures, the prevention and control strategies are still
emergent issues. The antibiotic development continues to be a stagnate search area. In particular, no new classes of
antibiotics to treat Gram-negative bacilli were discovered for more than 40 years and consequently antibiotic resistance
continues to spread like wildfire.
Taking into account the economic importance of the marine fish diseases in the aquaculture industry and the increasing
need of finding new antibiotics, the main goal of the project is to develop new, selective and potent antibacterial
agents inspired on natural products, of vegetal or marine origin, to treat tenacibaculosis and improve the culture of
other marine species of commercial value. The ABFISH team has been conducting research in the area of Medicinal
Chemistry (drug discovery and development) and Applied Microbiology for some time. Accordingly, the main strategy
of ABFISH?s project is to take advantage of each participants? expertise, which have the state-of-the-art equipment
facilities, to develop new antibiotics. This is a high-impact and -profit project, with promising outcomes coming from its
progression. The overall research objectives are: a) To develop of bio-based antibiotics for aquaculture; b) To increase
the formation of specialized human resources; c) To publish results at least 4 international, peer-reviewed, scientific
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journals, with impact factor above 5 as well as present communications in scientific meetings in Portugal and abroad; d)
To establish novel international and national collaborations, enabling the establishment of networks that can be used to
competitively apply for funding in international agencies; e) To organize national and international scientific meetings,
workshops and seminars promoting the interaction between academy and industry; f) To create novel commercial
opportunities for bio economy since the best candidates that successfully overcome the requirements will be patented
and transferred to the Aquaculture Industry |