Exploring The Health of Aquatic Organisms Through an Immune Viewpoint

The marine environment could be a source of potential pathogens for the inhabiting organisms. For instance, it is estimated that 10²³ viral infections occur every second in oceans. In the same way, high concentrations of bacteria are also present in marine environments, estimated at about 10⁶ cells per ml. The microbiome of different animals has been widely explored with well-established technologies such as the 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing that allow identification, classification, and quantify the prokaryote and eukaryote communities of the considered sample.

The environmental conditions also influence the health status of aquatic animals. The presence of antibiotics, all sorts of plastics, and other pollutants in water bodies, which are important reservoirs for these compounds, is a continuous threat to microbial diversity and ecosystem functions, wildlife fauna, and aquaculture species.
Aquaculture is the leading source of aquatic food for humans that substantially contributes to global food production. It is estimated that the world’s demand for aquatic food will increase by around 13% in the following years, reaching 204 million tons by 2030. In this context, aquaculture will cover this demand. Moreover, when the input of capture fisheries to global food supplies is unlikely to grow significantly. One of the consistent problems in aquaculture is health management. The increased fish density results in elevated stress often leading to outbreaks of deadly diseases induced by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.

The goal of this Research Topic is to offer a comprehensive view of critical issues influencing disease and aquatic species and how to manage them. The Research Topic is open to contributions integrating different approaches used to understand how immune aspects of the disease process are altered by the other environmental conditions aquatic organisms live in. Contributions covering all marine species, their environments, ecosystems, and the influence of climate change or pollution on the development of disease and immune response are welcomed.

All scientists and researchers interested in this Research Topic are invited to submit their work in the form of Original Research, Review, Mini-Review, and Perspective articles, offering new insights into the immune aspects of aquatic organisms altered by environmental conditions.

We welcome manuscripts focusing on, but not limited to, the following sub-topics:

• Research that integrates classical (cytological, histological techniques) with newly adopted techniques such as scRNA-seq, Multiome, NGS, dual transcriptomics, eDNA assessment, and their closely associated.
• Critical reviews clearly delineating future perspectives are also welcome.