CULTURE-INDEPENDENT MONITORING OF BACILLUS LICHENIFORMIS, A PUTATIVE PROBIOTIC, IN FISH FAECAL SAMPLES

STUDENT SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

World population increase led to a higher need for food resources. Presently, aquaculture represents nearly 50 percent of the world’s food fish supply. Not surprisingly an enormous effort is being made to further improve aquaculture production, using sustainable practices. Regarding disease prevention measures, since the use antibiotics as growth promoters was banned due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, prebiotics and probiotics became subjects of major interest.
Bacillus licheniformis is a known probiotic, which has been applied in livestock, poultry and aquaculture. The identification and quantification of this bacterium in fish faecal samples will allow monitoring B. licheniformis populations in the gut of fish and to study the potential beneficial effect of this putative probiotic, as well as the effect of different prebiotics in this population.

Graduated in Biology by the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Eduarda Almeida was an intern student at the Microbial Diversity and Evolution Group in CIBIO-InBIO, under the supervision of Fernando Tavares (title: Characterization of Enterococcus spp. isolates from seagull faeces and cloacae, with emphasis for antibiotic resistance and bacteriocin production). Eduarda is currently attending the Cell and Molecular Biology Master’s Course at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, and her MSc thesis is also being carried out in the MDE Group, under the supervision of Fernando Tavares.

Image credits: Eduarda Almeida & Paula Enes