The pathogenic species from the genus Flavobacterium have played a crucial role in causing significant mortalities in cultivated salmonids during the freshwater phase, resulting in substantial economic losses and environmental impact due to the utilization of antimicrobial treatments for managing flavobacteriosis infections. Given its importance, the Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR) has placed emphasis on investigating flavobacteriosis in the second phase of the Research Line RP2 “Animal Health in Early Life Stages of Salmonids”.
For this purpose, a team consisting of Dr. Ruben Avendaño-Herrera (UNAB/INCAR), Dr. Mónica Saldarriaga-Cordoba (UBO/INCAR), Dr. Matías Poblete-Morales (UNAB), and Engineer Rute Irgang (INCAR) has successfully isolated the new species F. psychrophilum. The newly discovered bacterial strain was obtained from water samples and characterized using genomic techniques, revealing a significant resemblance to two bacterial strains identified in China: Flavobacterium ardleyense A2-1T and Flavobacterium cheniae DSM 22462T. This significant finding necessitates further investigations into the virulence of this strain, as genomic analysis indicated the presence of virulence factors including adhesion capability, antiphagocytosis, iron absorption, secretion systems, toxins, immune evasion mechanisms, and stress adaptation.
