GART as a Platform to Investigate Disease Control Strategies Against AHPND/EMS in Shrimp

Dr. Niu Yufeng, research Scientist, Aqua UGent, Belgium

AHPND/EMS is currently one of the most devastating diseases in shrimp farms which occurs typically within 30 days of stocking in grow-out ponds and causes mortality up to 100%. This disease has a bacterial etiology and its causative agent has been identified as member of the Vibrio harveyi clade, most closely related to V. parahaemolyticus.

Recent research at the University of Ghent has shown that GART, the Gnotobiotic ARTemia platform, is a valuable pre-assessment tool to validate in vitro findings before testing on a large scale with shrimp. This model uses the brine shrimp (Artemia) under sterile conditions and provides a high-throughput and low-cost screening platform which, in combination with a number of Vibrio strains with virulence gradient, allows to investigate diverse disease control strategies under highly controlled conditions.

Dr. Niu Yufeng currently works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center of Ghent University and is also involved in aquaculture business development between Europe and China for Aqua UGent.

As a joint PhD between Ghent University and Ocean University of China, Michael focused on the research of microbial management in the aquaculture industry and facilitated the collaboration between the two universities. During his PhD, microorganisms in the aquatic system were the core of his research. He studied the immunostimulatory effects of microbes leading to more robust animals against pathogen infections.