RESEARCH SERVICES
We offer a broad range of experimental and analytical services to assess the health, performance, and immune response of aquatic organisms, including vertebrates and invertebrates. Our expertise supports research in aquaculture, nutrition, disease management, and environmental stress.
For fish, services include feeding or challenge trials, immune and biochemical profiling, gene expression analysis, transcriptomics and proteomics in different tissues, and gut microbiome evaluation. We also perform the same analytics in fish larvae. In flatfish larvae we can also perform bacterial bath challenge.
For molluscs, we conduct infection and environmental challenge trials, along with hemolymph analysis, gene expression, transcriptomics and proteomics in different tissues, and microbiome assessments.
For shrimp, we perform hemolymph analysis, gene expression, transcriptomics and proteomics in different tissues, and gut microbiome assessments.
These tools provide an integrated approach to understanding organism health and supporting innovation in aquatic research.
OUR EXPERTISE
Health and Nutrition
Nutritional strategies to boost health and reduce antibiotic use.
Biotechnology
Genetic tools, passive immunization, and vaccine delivery.
Functional genomics
Proteome and transcriptome (RNAseq) analysis
Host-Pathogen Interaction
How pathogens invade, spread, and cause disease.
Infectious Disease Management
Detecting and treating bacterial and parasitic infections.
Neuro-Endocrine/Immune Interactions
Impact of stress and hormones on immunity.
Stress & Welfare
Enhancing husbandry to reduce stress and improve resilience.
Precision Vet Medicine
Biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted treatment.
OUR SERVICES
For Fish
Fish are subjected to feeding trials with experimental diets and / or pathogen challenge trials, depending on the objective of the study.
In feeding trials, parameters such as growth performance (e.g., weight gain, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate), feed intake, and overall health condition are monitored to assess the nutritional impact of the diet.
In challenge trials, fish or flatfish larvae are exposed to a specific pathogen under controlled conditions to evaluate disease resistance. Outcomes such as survival rate, clinical signs, immune response, pathogen load (via qPCR or culture methods), and behavioral changes are recorded.
These trials can be used to determine the effectiveness of a dietary or a therapeutic interventions in enhancing fish health and resilience.
Through haematological procedures, including total red and white blood cell counts, differential white blood cell counts, hematocrit, and hemoglobin levels. Additionally, plasma and mucus immune parameters are evaluated, such as peroxidase and lysozyme activity, total protein, protease and antiprotease levels, nitric oxide concentration, cortisol, IgM, and complement activity.
Comprehensive evaluation of fish health integrating multiple biological endpoints. Data from physiological, immunological, molecular, and microbiome analyses are analyzed using multivariate statistical approaches, such as principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and discriminant function analysis. This integrated approach enables the identification of key biomarkers and health indicators, offering a holistic understanding of fish condition, performance, and response to experimental treatments.
For Molluscs
Molluscs are exposed to specific pathogens and / or environmental stressors (e.g., temperature shifts, salinity changes, pollutants) under controlled conditions to assess their resilience and immune capacity. Survival rate, behavioral changes, and clinical signs are monitored to evaluate the impact of the challenges and identify potential protective interventions.
Key immune and physiological parameters are measured from hemolymph samples, including total protein content, haemocyte count, phagocytic activity, and nitric oxide levels. These indicators provide valuable insights into the immune status and stress response of molluscs under experimental conditions.
Cross-species services
Assessment of oxidative stress markers and metabolite levels, along with gene expression analysis targeting immune- and stress-related genes via qPCR, or global transcriptome profiling through RNA-Seq, as well as proteome profiling.
This allows for the identification of molecular responses to experimental treatments and environmental conditions.
Evaluation of gut microbiome diversity and composition through high-throughput sequencing techniques (e.g., 16S rRNA gene sequencing). Analyses include alpha and beta diversity metrics, taxonomic profiling, and identification of microbial biomarkers associated with different treatments or health statuses. Functional prediction of microbial communities may also be performed to infer potential metabolic contributions to host health.
Microbial analysis services also including pathogen detection and disease diagnosis.