The Chilean salmon industry has experienced several crises due to high mortalities of fish caused by pathogens such as the ISA virus. In addition, intensive salmon farming in the marine environment has been continuously affected by bacterial outbreaks of Piscrickettsia salmonis, parasitic outbreaks of the sea louse Caligus rogercresseyi, and most recently by the reappearance of the bacterium, Renibacterium salmoninarum.
In this context, RP3 scientists have focused research efforts on building knowledge about these critical pathogens, particularly on genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels as well as in understanding the pathogenicity, virulence, and resistance mechanisms.
For example, RP3 collaborative research on antibiotic resistance with other scientific teams has found that there is high diversity in the pathogenic strains of P. salmonis in Chile, all with different degrees of susceptibility to antibiotics, while genomic analyses have shown that most strains have the same gene heritage that controls antibiotic susceptibility. However, efficient control and/or treatment for major disease pathogens has been difficult because there are still no efficient commercial vaccines available for P. salmonis.