Halftime seminar with PhD student Nicklas Wallbom, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Focus for Nicklas' PhD-project is to evaluate pros and cons with vaccination of fish in aquaculture, see below. Opponent at the seminar is Rolf Erik Olsen, NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet) and examiner Staffan Andersson, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Nicklas' main supervisor is Lisa Jönsson Bergman (BioEnv) with Erik Sandblom (BioEnv/AstraZeneca) and Henrik Sundh (BioEnv) as cosupervisors
Short summary
Vaccination of farmed fish causes side-effects ranging from mild tissue pigmentation to severe internal lesions that jeopardize fish welfare and sales. In addition, vaccination can impair growth and reduce yield, which has previously been attributed mainly to a loss of appetite. However, the loss of appetite after fish vaccination appears to be temporary. This suggests that long-term growth impairments, such that compromise yield, are mediated through other physiological mechanisms. The aim of my research is to describe the physiological mediators of impaired growth in vaccinated rainbow trout. The fundamental hypotheses tested are that (i). The immunological energetic cost imposed by vaccination leaves less energy to invest into growth; and (ii). The immunological up-regulation after vaccination is traded off with growth through the endocrine growth axis.