SBIR Phase I:Use of Inducible Antimicrobial Peptides for Rapid Diagnosis, Prevention, and Management of Disease in Finfish Aquaculture

这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目建议开发新的诊断和治疗方法，以管理诸如杂交条纹鱼(HSB)等鱼类的传染性病原体。HSB水产养殖已成为美国第四大鱼类生产形式。研究人员对HSB先天非特异性免疫相关分子的研究导致了一种新型的富含半胱氨酸的抗菌肽的发现、克隆和鉴定，该抗菌肽被命名为BASS-HIVIDIN。海普西丁同源物存在于许多鱼类物种中。在水产养殖致病菌尼氏链球菌的实验攻击下，BASS-HIVIDIN在肝脏中强烈表达。第一阶段的研究目标包括：1)多肽的合成和纯化，2)多克隆抗体的研制和酶联免疫吸附试验，3)检测多肽对重要水产养殖、农业和人类病原体的最低抑菌浓度，以及4)用Northern blots/RTPCR检测在致病菌的实验挑战中鱼类组织中的基因表达。如果成功，该项目将开发出具有成本效益的检测试剂盒，用于快速诊断几种养殖鱼类的细菌和真菌感染。该项目的商业应用是在水产养殖领域。在全球范围内，疾病每年给水产养殖生产者造成的损失超过30亿美元。开发一种经济高效的免疫分析方法将能够快速诊断HSB和其他具有重要商业价值的养殖鱼种的细菌和真菌感染。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I Project proposes to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for management of infectious pathogens in finfish such as the hybrid striped bass (HSB). HSB aquaculture has become the fourth largest form of U.S. fish production. Prior research by the investigators on the molecules involved in the innate, non specific immunity of HSB has led to the discovery, cloning, and characterization of a novel, cysteine-rich, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) that has been named bass-hepcidin. Hepcidin homologs are present in many finfish species. Bass-hepcidin is strongly expressed in the liver upon experimental challenge with the devastating aquaculture pathogen Streptococcus iniae. Phase I research objectives include: 1) synthesis and purification of the peptide, 2) development of a polyclonal antibody and ELISA assay), 3) testing of the minimum inhibitory concentration of the peptide against important aquaculture, agriculture, and human pathogens, and 4) measurement of gene expression in finfish tissues in experimental challenges with pathogenic bacteria using Northern blots/rtPCR. If successful, this project will allow development of cost-effective test kits for rapid diagnosis of bacterial and fungal infections in several species of cultured finfish.The commercial application of this project is in the area of aquaculture. On a worldwide basis, disease costs aquaculture producers more than $3 billion annually. The development of a cost-effective immunoassay will allow rapid diagnosis of bacterial and fungal infections in HSB and other commercially important cultured finfish.