Fishing for functional feed: understanding the immune modulatory effects of novel feed ingredients to secure fish health

In this new project named Fishing for functional feed: understanding the immune modulatory effects of novel feed ingredients to secure fish health we will develop a reliable screening tool to assess the immunomodulatory effect of novel feed and its ingredients using zebrafish. With this zebrafish model we will provide the aquaculture feed industry with a platform to pre-screen, among others, alternatives to fishmeal in commercial feeds and generate much needed scientific data on the interaction between dietary components and gut immunity in a bony fish species. The PhD candidate together with the technician will develop reliable read-out parameters (using transgenic zebrafish and fluorescent microscopy, assessment of intestinal  barrier integrity, intestinal microbiota composition, immune responses and immune pathway activation by transcriptomics, behavioral responses and intestinal morphology by histology) to quantify (protection from) inflammation in larvae as well as adult fish.

For more information please contact Dr. Sylvia Brugman (sylvia.brugman@wur.nl) or Prof. Geert Wiegertjes (geert.wiegertjes@wur.nl)