Sarker Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil
Insights on immune and inflammatory responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) affected by Red Mark Syndrome (RMS) and Lactococcosis.
Supervisor: Prof. Marco Galeotti, Prof. Donatella Volpatti
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector in the world. Among freshwater fish species farmed in Europe, rainbow trout (O. mykiss) is the most widely cultured in the global market and has a high economic value. However, the intensive farming conditions increase its susceptibility to different pathogens that lead to significant productive losses. For this reason, it is important to study diseases and the responses of fish to these diseases. Given these premises the PhD project can be divided in two research lines as follows.
The first line of the research project is aimed to update the knowledge on Red Mark Syndrome (RMS) and on Midichloria-like organisms (MLOs) associated with rainbow trout farming providing the essential know-how for the development of effective strategic tools to monitor these organisms and limit the impact and the spread of the disease. This main goal will be achieved through the following sub-objectives: identify the etiological agent, elucidate the mechanisms of entry/spread of the RMS in farms, demonstrate the infection pathway and systemic immune response in rainbow trout, evaluate the potential zoonotic risk, identify effective control methods and finally, through the analysis of the previous points, to draw up preventive guidelines.
The second line is Lactococcosis, which is one of the main bacterial diseases affecting farmed rainbow trout (O. mykiss), with significant economic and sanitary repercussion. The main focus will be to evaluate the immune/inflammatory response of the rainbow trout against L. garvieae or upon vaccination against Lactococcosis, and to advance the understanding about host-pathogen interaction, analyzing different immunological parameters.
Biography and Contacts:
He was born in 1988 in Chandpur, Bangladesh. He completed BSc Fisheries (Hons.) and MSc in Aquaculture from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh, where he carried out his thesis work on the effects of parasitism on the growth of Heteropneustes fossilis. Afterwards, he moved to Europe to pursue his second Master (Erasmus Mundus MSc in Marine Environment and Resources, 2015-2017) from MER consortium where he conducted research on Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis), characterizing the reproductive cycle and analyzing at the transcription level several genes related to gametogenesis and hormonal signaling along a complete reproductive cycle. Prior to the PhD project, he employed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fish Health Management, Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh.
Khalil’s main research interests are aquaculture, fish diseases, fish immunology and pathology. These topics are investigated through molecular (gene transcription and sequencing); cellular (biochemical enzyme and protein detection) and conventional techniques (histology).