I. Study of infectious diseases of parasitic, bacterial and viral origin and investigating different pathological manifestations of unknown origins. Study efforts are aimed at understanding the cause of the diseases and search for solutions
II. Development of natural, environmentally friendly treatments and natural immunostimulants that can replace the traditionally used antibiotics and chemicals.
III. Consultancy to local aquaculture farms at the Negev and Arava region. This is done through disease diagnosis and farm visits. Through this activity we come across different manifestations, diseases and other health-related problems of local importance, which are occasionally investigated as part of our research activity.
Specific reserch topics that are currently conducted:
1) Microalgal-based immunostimulants
Mortalities due to stress events and disease outbreaks routinely occur in aquaculture and lead to substantial economic losses. No treatment is available for viral diseases and for some of the parasitic and bacterial diseases affecting fish. In addition, there are no practical solutions to general stresses (such as handling, water quality fluctuations, etc.) experienced by fish during the culture period. One of the research scopes in my laboratory is to investigate the use of immunostimulants from natural sources in fish. In that context we have been examining the application of several microalgae, the arachidonic acid rich Parietochloris incisa and the astaxanthin-rich Haematococcus pluvialis. We plan to consider application of additional microalgae in the future.
2) Tetrahymena sp. infection in guppies
Tetrahymenosis, known also as a “Guppy killer", is a parasitic disease that is affecting primarily guppies, Poecilia reticulata, but also other fish species. The parasite, Tetrahymana sp. is a ciliate, of which several species can infect fish under certain conditions. The parasite is in vitro cultured at our lab and the infection is maintained in fish. Research efforts includes study of the pathogenesis of the disease, search for solutions, including treatments and vaccination.
3) Development of oral vaccination in fish
We have recently initiated a research project aimed to develop oral vaccination in fish, using Tetrahymena sp. infection in guppies as a model.