Organization: Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), St. John’s, Canada
Dr. Albert Caballero Solares is a senior post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Matthew Rise (Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University). He earned his B.Sc. in Oceanography at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). Later on, he completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Marine Sciences with distinction at the University of Barcelona (Spain), where he conducted research on the nutrition of farmed gilthead seabream.
Since joining Rise lab, Albert has been applying his experience and knowledge in fish physiology and metabolism to the investigation of dietary modulation of the expression of genes related to growth, metabolism, stress, and immunity in farmed Atlantic salmon. He is working or collaborating with several projects involving various Canadian universities (Memorial University and University of Prince Edward Island) and federal institutions (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), as well as global industrial partners (Cargill Innovation). Among the projects where he participates, there are two Genomic Applications Partnership Program (Genome Canada)-funded projects: “Biomarker Platform for Commercial Aquaculture Feed Development” and “Integrated Pathogen Management of Co-infection in Atlantic Salmon”. In the latter, Albert collaborates on the identification of feed formulations that could be advantageous for helping Atlantic salmon to fight co-infection with sea lice and a secondary pathogen.

Title: Advances toward the dietary modulation of immunity in farmed Atlantic salmon. Part 2: Developing dietary strategies against infectious diseases

Speaker: Albert Caballero-Solares1
Co-authors: Xi Xue1, Jennifer R. Hall2, Navaneethaiyer Umasuthan1, Khalil Eslamloo1, Christopher C. Parrish1, Richard G. Taylor3, and Matthew L. Rise1

Organization: 1Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada. 2Aquatic Research Cluster, CREAIT Network, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada. 3 Cargill Animal Nutrition, Minnesota, USA.

Abstract: The collaboration of our research teams at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) and Cargill Innovation in two GAPP-funded projects has contributed to improving our understanding of the nutrition-health interaction in farmed Atlantic salmon. Here, we discuss the main findings from two functional genomics studies conducted on salmon head kidney mRNA: one exploring the impact of dietary fatty acid profiles on the antiviral and antibacterial response; the other analyzing the immunostimulatory effects of a functional feed on salmon infected with infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus. In the first study, dietary omega-6 fatty acids enhanced inflammatory and antibacterial immune response, whereas omega-3 fatty acids strengthened the antiviral response. In the second, the functional feed increased fish survival by promoting a more effective antiviral response, possibly connected with improved regulation of steroid metabolism. Taken together, our results will help in designing dietary strategies to tackle specific health challenges in Atlantic salmon aquaculture.