Research

To achieve sustainability, there is therefore an urgent need to understand the interaction between pathogens and host under different environments. To this end, this team recently identified the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-induced rerouting of aerobic glycolysis, oxidative/reductive glutamine metabolism and lipid metabolism, and how the virus uses this rerouting to defeat the host defense and benefit its replication. These metabolic changes are also vital in identifying resistant/susceptible biomarkers for use in breeding disease-resistant shrimps. Meanwhile, the team has also focused on AHPND. By using comparative metagenomics to established a time-series analysis of microbiota dynamics in the stomach of growout-pond shrimp during AHPND development, this team found that dysbiosis mediated by Vibrio spp plays a key role in AHPND pathogenesis. In addition, one possible probiotic candidate which may prevent AHPND outbreak was also identified from heathy shrimp stomach. The team also found that activation of the Rho pathway allows the toxin and bacteria to translocate from stomach to hepatopancreas, where it induces its characteristic necrosis of the epithelial cells. All of these results are very important for the development of effective control measures for the diseases.

The team recognizes that while aquaculture fisheries are projected to soon become the main source of high quality protein for human consumption, they continue to be threatened by diseases (particularly WSD and AHPND) – a situation that is further complicated by extreme climate change. To mitigate the effects of climate change, the team has been using a very competitive MoST Grant for Excellence to mobilize a multidisciplinary team of experts to design and develop an indoor shrimp breeding center on the NCKU Annan campus that is not susceptible to torrential rains or sudden fluctuations in temperature. With funding support from the MoE Excellent Research Center’s Higher Education Sprout Project and the MoST Excellent Research Center, this team continues to pursue a breeding program for shrimp with commercially favorable traits at a shrimp breeding center on the NCKU Annan campus, while simultaneously establishing a 3-hectare ‘clean culture’ shrimp farm in Hualien with high biosecurity, high food safety, and the ability to cope with extreme weather events. The increased environmental control and stability afforded by this system translates to an increased shrimp survival rate that directly benefits the shrimp farming industry.