Effects of Dietary Components on the Gut Health of Fishes
A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2020) | Viewed by 4522
Special Issue Editor
Interests: aquaculture; fish nutrition; digestive physiology; mucosal immunity; functional genomics
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
An optimally functioning and healthy intestine is vitally important for the health and well-being of an animal as a whole. Only healthy guts will allow for maximal feed consumption and utilization, nutrient absorption and metabolism, and efficient and timely immune responses, which are all vital for optimal growth, well-being, and disease resistance. Thus, gut health should be a priority in any animal husbandry operation to assure animal welfare and efficient production. Yet, the fish farming industry report compromised gut function and signs of disease. The causes of these are only partially understood, but present knowledge indicates that the increased inclusion of plant ingredients with their endogenous antinutritional factors may be at least partially responsible for some conditions. Experience from other production animals indicates that feed components, nutrient balance, pathogenic and opportunistic disease-causing organisms, and environmental factors may be involved in compromising gut health, alone or in combination. In addition, naturally-occurring resident microbiota in the intestinal tract can have a profound influence on gut health, and have the potential to mitigate the detrimental influence of disease-causing factors. Endogenous factors regarding fish genotype, e.g., breed, and phenotype, as influenced by earlier life stage events, can also affect the susceptibility for direct disease-causing factors. Present knowledge, however, is not adequate for the prevention of intestinal disease conditions in farmed fishes. Systematic investigations are required to unravel causal relationships, develop non-invasive diagnostic tools, and implement preventative measures.
This Special Issue aims to make a contribution to the current knowledge of how dietary components, singly or in combination with other endo- or exogenous factors, can affect the gut health and function of established, emerging, or candidate aquaculture fish species. We are pleased to solicit manuscripts pertaining to original research, mini and full reviews, short communications, as well as perspectives addressing topics such as
- Fish gut health and alternative feed raw materials;
- Nutritional requirements and fish gut health;
- Effects of functional feed components on fish gut health and function;
- Fish gut health and the changing environment;
- Effects of dietary components on gut microbiota;
- Effects of dietary components on gut mucosal health and immunology;
- Utilization of omics technologies to elucidate fish gut health and function.
Dr. Trond M. Kortner
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Gut health
- Fish nutrition
- Aquaculture
- Functional aquafeeds
- Alternative protein and lipid sources
- Digestive physiology
- Gut barrier function
- Gut mucosal health and immunology.
