L. Kannan

Probiotics in aquaculture: importance and future perspectives

Aquaculture is one of the fastest developing growth sectors in the world and Asia presently contributes about 90% to the global production. However, disease outbreaks are constraint to aquaculture production thereby affects both economic development of the country and socio-economic status of the local people in many countries of Asia-Pacifi c region. Disease control in aquaculture industry has been achieved by following different methods using traditional ways, synthetic chemicals and antibiotics. However, the use of such expensive chemotherapeutants for controlling diseases has been widely criticized for their negative impacts like accumulation of residues, development of drug resistance, immunosuppressants and reduced consumer preference for aqua products treated with antibiotics and traditional methods are ineffective against controlling new diseases in large aquaculture systems. Therefore, alternative methods need to be developed to maintain a healthy microbial environment in the aquaculture systems there by to maintain the health of the cultured organisms. Use of probiotics is one of such method that is gaining importance in controlling potential pathogens. This review provides a summary of the criteria for the selection of the potential probiotics, their importance and future perspectives in aquaculture industry.

Research on marine actinobacteria in India

Marine actinobacteriology is one of the major emerging areas of research in tropics. Marine actinobacteria occur on the sediments and in water and also other biomass (mangrove) and substrates (animal). These organisms are gaining importance not only for their taxonomic and ecological perspectives, but also for their unique metabolites and enzymes. Many earlier studies on these organisms were confined only to the temperate regions. In tropical environment, investigations on them have gained importance only in the last two decades. So far, from the Indian peninsula, 41 species of actinobacteria belonging to 8 genera have been recorded. The genus, Streptomyces of marine origin has been more frequently recorded. Of 9 maritime states of India, only 4 have been extensively covered for the study of marine actinobacteria. Most of the studies conducted pertain to isolation, identification and maintenance of these organisms in different culture media. Further, attention has been focused on studying their antagonistic properties against different pathogens. Their biotechnological potentials are yet to be fully explored.