Wed, 2013-04-17 10:18 | 
Summary of PhD Thesis
The aquaculture industry in Greece is one of the most important sectors in animal production with an important export rate of production volume. However, one of the most significant problems that aquaculture industry face today worldwide are the diseases and the pathology of the farmed fish, because they affect fish growth, reduce production, increase the cost and cause problems in fish welfare. Specifically, Myxobacteriosis in this research project is a limiting factor of many marine fish farming in Europe, U.S.A. and Japan. Myxobacteria are a big group of bacteria that infect many species of marine and freshwater fish, causing specific diseases.
The main objectives of the research are:
- The isolation and identification of the pathogens Myxobacteriain marine farmed fish in Greece. For this reason four seasonal samplings were performed
- The control of the pathogenic action of the isolated bacteria species in the most sensitive fish species, that will be performed with experimental infections in fish
- The histopathological study of the infected fish
- The preservation of the isolated bacteria species for future research (creation of Myxobacteria bank)
The project is implemented in 4 phases:
- Collection of the pathological material and bacteria from the Greek aquaculture farms, in order to study the infection rate, the seasonality and the pathology of Myxobacteria in marine farmed fish
- Experimental infections for the control of the pathogenic action of the isolated bacteria
- Identification, coding, classification and storage of the isolated bacteria
- Creation of a bank with pathogenic bacteria from Greek aquaculture farms
Although Greece is a pioneer in aquaculture, however there is not an official record of the isolated bacteria that can be found in Greek aquaculture farms. It seems that there is a significant need to proceed to a registration and accurate identification of the pathogenic bacteria in Greece. This Thesis consists the second organized effort to broaden the first bank, a bank reference only for Myxobacteria isolated from Greek aquaculture farms. The main requirement of the Greek aquaculture and especially the marine aquaculture is the creation of vaccines and auto vaccines from bacteria species that dominate in Greece, something that this bank can give in the near future. Until now, there is only one commercial vaccine (FM-95) as a patent of the University Santiago de Compostela in Spain for the prevention of Myxobacteriosis in the fish flounder.
The results of this Thesis are going to be original, because there is not enough information for the infections from Myxobacteria, especially in marine farmed fish in Greece and the treatment in these cases is usually been made depending on experience. So, the successful implementation of the objectives of the proposed research project becomes of prime importance and is going to contribute significantly to improving the therapy, the early and accurate diagnosis, increase productivity and quality of these marine farmed fish.
