CIRNAS: COLLABORATIVE IMMUNE REAGENT NETWORK FOR AQUACULTURED SPECIES

Farmed fish provide healthy protein and lipids for human consumption. Nevertheless, disease limits the sustainability and production of this industry. Immunological reagents specific for commercially relevant aquacultured species are needed to advance basic and applied research related to fish health. These reagents are required to evaluate shifts in immunity during infection and vaccination against pathogens that limit the full potential of aquaculture. CIRNAS (http://biology.unm.edu/CIRNAS) is a collaborative network with a goal of serving the aquaculture community by advancing the availability of immunological resources and knowledge base for fish health. Due to the importance of mucosal health and mucosal vaccines in finfish, specific focus areas include the development of reagents for mucosal immunity and vaccinology. Four fish species: Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) are being targeted. Antibody panels and immune assays will be developed to assess the contribution of different leukocyte subsets and effector molecules that cannot be currently measured during disease and vaccination due to lack of corresponding reagents. Current and proposed research will be presented.