A1 Journal article (refereed)
The Fate of Bacteriophages in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) : Towards Developing Phage Therapy for RAS (2019)

Almeida, G. M. F., Mäkelä, K., Laanto, E., Pulkkinen, J., Vielma, J., & Sundberg, L.-R. (2019). The Fate of Bacteriophages in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) : Towards Developing Phage Therapy for RAS. Antibiotics, 8(4), Article 192. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040192

JYU authors or editors

De Freitas Almeida, Gabriel
Mäkelä, Kati
Laanto, Elina
Sundberg, Lotta-Riina

Publication details

All authors or editors: Almeida, Gabriel M. F..; Mäkelä, Kati; Laanto, Elina; Pulkkinen, Jani; Vielma, Jouni; Sundberg, Lotta-Riina

Journal or series: Antibiotics

eISSN: 2079-6382

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 8

Issue number: 4

Article number: 192

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8040192

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/66249

Abstract

Aquaculture production has increased tremendously during the last decades, and new techniques have been developed, e.g., recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). In RAS, the majority of water volume is circulated via mechanical and biological filters and reused in the tanks. However, the prevention and treatment of diseases in these systems are challenging, as the pathogens spread throughout the system, and the addition of chemicals and antibiotics disrupts the microbiome of the biofilters. The increasing antibiotic resistance has made phage therapy a relevant alternative for antibiotics in food production. Indeed, as host-specific and self-replicating agent they might be optimal for targeted pathogen eradication in RAS. We tested the survival and spread of Flavobacterium columnare -infecting phage FCL-2 in recirculating aquaculture fish farm with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a fully controlled study. After a single addition, phage persisted in water samples collected from tank, fixed bed, moving bed, and aeration unit up to 14 days, and in the water of rearing tanks, rainbow trout mucus, and bioreactor carrier media from the fixed and moving bed biofilters for 21 days. Furthermore, phage adsorbed preferentially to moving bed carrier media, which contained biofilm attached and from which higher phage numbers were recovered. This study shows phages as a potent strategy for maintaining biosecurity in RAS systems.

Keywords: aquaculture; fish diseases; phage therapy; bacteriophages

Free keywords: aquaculture; bacteriophage; biofilter; disease; phage therapy; RAS; recirculating aquaculture systems

Fields of science: