18 Months of IGNITION project

Over its 18 months of existence, IGNITION has made substantial progress in each work package, towards improving animal welfare, discovering non-invasive biomarkers, developing immune-boosting functional feeds, using more efficient vaccination approaches, and advancing genomic and health monitoring tools.

For better understanding the molecular, physiological, and behavioural responses of farmed animals to climate change, both acute and chronic stress trials were designed to simulate current environmental events and routine rearing practices. For instance, preliminary results showed that transported (stressed) European seabass and trout have elevated cortisol and glucose levels in plasma. Stress trials were also conducted to evaluate Manila clam’s resistance to heatwaves and Perkinsus olseni parasitic infection. High mortality after the heat stress and high parasite prevalence after 3 months exposure were recorded. The DNA of surviving/dead and infected/non-infected individuals collected to determine if resistance to both stressors is genetically determined and if it is related.
The data obtained for the characterization of stress and immune responses in fish is being used to fine tune immunonutrition strategies, but also to feed a database for further discovering non-invasive biomarkers of health and stress by using proteomics and transcriptomics. These non-invasive biomarkers obtained from large datasets and relying on data collection modes with minimal disturbance of the animal, such as electrochemical biosensors, will have high predictive power for welfare monitoring.

As for immunonutrition, a patented, multi-step cascade extraction process for halophytes has been developed, and bioactive compounds with prebiotic, probiotic and antioxidant properties have been produced from Salicornia ramosissima. This biorefinery approach enables the production of high-value products in a sustainable and circular manner.

A new immunization protocol for fish using outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) with a specific gene deletion was tested. Results of the trials conducted so far indicate that such OMVs can successfully incorporate multiple antigens to significantly enhance vaccination efficacy.

 

These and other exciting results were presented by work package leaders at IGNITION’s first review meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on June 25th. We would like to thank the evaluators, project officer, and policy officer for their insightful questions, comments and suggestions.