This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A University of Stirling study could pave the way for more efficient study of the secretions that salmon lice use to avoid fish defenses, potentially enabling the development of new strategies to protect salmon from infestations. Research led by doctoral researcher Alexander Dindial alongside Professor James Bron and Dr.
Sean Monaghan at the university's Institute of Aquaculture, in collaboration with Moredun Research Institute's Kevin McLean, has resulted in the development of a new and precise way to collect and study secretory and excretory products (SEPs) from salmon lice. This includes substances released from the glands of the lice that make it easier for them to feed or evade their host's immune system. The study is published in the journal Veterinary Parasitology.
Salmon lice feed on the skin, mucus and blood of fish, causing open wounds that can lead to infection—reducing the market value of farmed fish and increasing the chance of secondary infections. Various treatments have been developed to tackle sea lice infestations in Atlantic salmon aquaculture—which costs the industry more than $1 billion a year—but some of these can be expensive, unreliable, environmentally damaging and negatively affect animal welfare. Previous methods for extracting SEPs from salmon lice involved pooling together large numbers of individuals, hiding the natural differences between individual lice, which can provide vital insight for developing targeted treatments or vaccines.
The new method, as well as allowing study of individuals, also reduces the potential for louse fecal contamination. It allows collection of high-quality samples from a single louse per test, with substantial yields of secretory proteins per louse. Dindial explained, "Salmon lice cause hundreds of millions of pounds of damage annually to the global salmon aquaculture industry through mortality, lost production and the implementation of control measures.
Understanding these secretions is an important step toward understanding louse biology and developing new, safe and effective strategies for control." Research involved collecting secretions from individual salmon lice by placing a small drop of solution over their mouths and letting them release proteins into it. These proteins were then examined using a technique called liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to analyze the exact protein composition of each sample. The technique uses state-of-the-art equipment to separate the components of a sample, break them into fragments and analyze them—revealing protein composition and helping to identify them.
The team found 148 total secretory proteins, 64 of which were detected in each of the tested conditions—some of which could represent potential targets for vaccine development. The secretory protein profiles of individual lice showed wide variation in protein number and diversity, a pattern consistent with other ectoparasites like ticks and mosquitoes. Dindial continued, "This work has the potential to expand our knowledge of salmon louse biology and to provide insight into louse proteins that could be exploited to help fish mount an immune response against infection.
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