Anti-infectious immune effectors in marine invertebrates: potential tools for disease control in larviculture

摘要

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.