Fabiana Pilarski

• Professor
• Researcher at São Paulo State University

Lactococcus petauri is an emerging pathogen causing piscine lactococcosis in various aquatic species. This disease has been increasingly reported as a cause of mortality in aquaculture. Due to the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials and to promote viable alternatives for their replacement, bioactive peptides with antimicrobial properties can be ex...

Recent studies have shown a growing presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae in aquatic environments, raising concerns for fish production due to its resistance to many antimicrobials. This bacterium is commonly associated with urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and septicemia in humans. Controlling bacterial infectious diseases in fish is a significant...

Lactococcus spp. has emerged as a pathogen that is affecting global aquaculture, with L. garvieae, L. petauri, and L. formosensis causing piscine lactococcosis. While antimicrobials are commonly used to treat diseases in aquaculture, reports of antimicrobial resistance in fish isolates are increasing. However, little is known about the susceptibili...

Lactococcus spp. has emerged as a pathogen that is affecting global aquaculture, with L. garvieae, L. petauri, and L. formosensis causing piscine lactococcosis. While antimicrobials are commonly used to treat diseases in aquaculture, reports of antimicrobial resistance in fish isolates are increasing. However, little is known about the susceptibili...

This study concerns the synthesis of the florfenicol (FF) metabolites florfenicol amine (FFA), florfenicol alcohol (FFOH), and monochloroflorfenicol (FFCl), for their subsequent use as reference standards in On-line solid-phase extraction-ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS) analysis. The metabolit...

Water temperature is a critical environmental parameter that significantly influences fish metabolism. This study assessed the metabolism of florfenicol (FF) in tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) at water temperatures typical of tropical and subtropical regions. Fish were treated with FF by oral administration of a dose of 10 mg kg ⁻¹ bw for 10 cons...

Water temperature is a critical environmental parameter that significantly influences fish metabolism. This study assessed the metabolism of florfenicol (FF) in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) at water temperatures typical of tropical and subtropical regions. Fish were treated with FF by oral administration of a dose of 10 mg/kg bw for ten consecut...

Lactococcus petauri is an emergent fish pathogen detected in mortality outbreaks in Nile tilapia and rainbow trout farms on the American continent. Diseased fish exhibits erratic swimming, eye disorders, dark skin pigmentation among other clinical signs. The multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a well-established methodology for the study of bacter...

Piscine lactococcosis is a disease caused by Lactococcus garvieae, L. petauri and L. formosensis. It is considered to be an emerging disease and poses a risk to global aquaculture production. Studies of the genetic diversity of Lactococcus spp. strains have epidemiological importance since they provide information on the genetic relationships betwe...

Nile tilapia is the main farmed fish in Brazilian aquaculture. Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) is responsible for high mortality rates in fish farms. Genetic improvement is considered an effective alternative for producing resistant animals in aquaculture. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for resistance to GBS infection...

Streptococcus agalactiae, group B Streptococcus (GBS), stands as the primary bacterial pathogen affecting cultured Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) globally, leading to significant mortalities throughout the farming cycle. This study investigated the genetic diversity, virulence and antibiotic resistance (AMR) genes presence, and antimicrobial...

Piscine lactococcosis is a disease caused by Lactococcus garvieae, L. petauri and L. formosensis. It is considered to be an emerging disease and poses a risk to global aquaculture production. Studies of the genetic diversity of Lactococcus spp. strains have epidemiological importance since they provide information on the genetic relationships betwe...

Although banned in food-producing animals, residues of malachite green (MG) and its primary metabolite, leucomalachite green (LMG), have been found in fish due to illegal use in aquaculture and the release of industrial wastewater, which represent a serious risk to food and environmental securities. This study aimed to investigate the residue deple...

We herein investigated Lactobacillus rhamnosus as a probiotic, paraprobiotic and their synbiotic combination in the diet of dourado Salminus brasiliensis. Two hundred and forty juvenile S. brasiliensis with average weight and length of 6.78 ± 1.65 g and 8.97 ± 0.42 cm were randomly distributed in 16 experimental units (300 L) under four treatments:...

Evaluation of a low-density SNP panel and imputation for genomic selection of resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila infection in the fish pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus)

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of inulin on stress and innate immunity of hybrid catfish (P. reticulatum × L. marmoratus). A total of 208 juvenile surubim, with initial average weight and length 37.91 ± 5.58 g and 18.51 ± 0.69 cm, were randomly distributed in 16 tanks (100 L) in a 4 × 5 factorial scheme. Inulin was used at four in...

Thiamphenicol (TAP) and florfenicol (FFC) combination has in vitro and in vivo synergistic activity against fish bacterial pathogens. However, a lack of information on its pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) in fish limits its further application. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate analytical methods for simultaneous de...

Simple Summary The use of veterinary drugs in fish farms is required to maintain animal health, minimize economic losses, and increase productivity. This study investigated the residue depletion profile of sulfadimethoxine (SDM) and ormetoprim (OMP) in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) after oral administration aiming to estimate a minimum withdrawal....

Dear Colleagues, Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production activity in the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) highlights the immense potential of aquaculture to significantly contribute to full access to food of adequate quality for the global population. Aquaculture is predicted to supply most of the...

Plants are used as therapeutic alternatives in Veterinary Medicine, including therapies for food-producing animals. However, these medicinal resources can sometimes contain dangerous substances, and when used in animals that supply food, they stand out from the point of view of food safety. The diterpene entagathic acid, a component of Copaifera du...

An analytical method for the determination of erythromycin A (ERY) residues in fish fillet was developed, optimized, and validated employing a modified QuEChERS procedure associated to DLLME technique as a preconcentration step. The obtained LOD and the LOQ were 0.1 µg kg⁻¹ and 1 µg kg⁻¹, respectively. The validated method provides linearity in the...

Plants are used as therapeutic alternatives in Veterinary Medicine, including therapies for food-producing animals. However, these medicinal resources can sometimes contain dangerous substances, and when used in animals that supply food, they stand out from the point of view of food safety. The diterpene ent agathic acid, acomponent of Copaifera du...

Streptococcus agalactiae, group B Streptococcus (GBS), is the main bacterial pathogen of cultured Nile tilapia in many countries and causes extensive deaths in all stages of the farming cycle throughout the year. This study investigated the genetic diversity, virulence, presence of antibiotic resistance genes and antimicrobial susceptibility of 72...

Flavobacterium columnare is an important pathogen of freshwater fish that has severe impacts on the commercial aquaculture sector worldwide. In this study, we investigated the morpho-molecular characteristics, pathogenicity against pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus, and antimicrobial susceptibility of a virulent F. columnare isolated from Nile tilapia...

Monogenean infection of the internal organs is extremely rare when compared to external infections. This study describes mass mortality of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) originating from co-infection with Enterogyrus spp. and Aeromonas jandaei following transport stress. The first fish deaths occurred on day 1 post-transport, while cumulat...

Aeromonas jandaei is an emerging fish pathogen associated with massive mortalities in cultured freshwater fish. This study investigated the morphological, biochemical, molecular, virulence, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial susceptibility characteristics of four strains of A. jandaei involved in the occurrence of mass mortalities of cultured Nile ti...

Monogenean infection of the internal organs is extremely rare when compared to external infections. This study describes mass mortality of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) originating from co-infection with Enterogyrus spp. and Aeromonas jandaei following transport stress. The first fish deaths occurred on day 1 post-transport, while cumulat...

Juveniles of Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum (36.25 g and 19.32 cm) were randomly distributed in 16 tanks with 80 L of water. The fish were fed with diets containing probiotic (2%), prebiotic (0.5%), synbiotic (2% probiotic +0.5% prebiotic) and diet without additives (control). After 60 days of feeding, the fish were challenged with inoculation of the...

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of dietary Saccharomyces cerevisiae-originated free nucleotides on growth, innate immunity, intestinal histomorphometry and disease resistance in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (average initial weight of 7.85 g). Five diets (treatments) were prepared: negative control diet (NCD) - basa...

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a critical-priority human pathogen, considered a key trafficker of drug resistance genes from environmental to clinically important bacteria. Although current evidence suggests its potential role as aquatic pathogen, there are few reports of infections in cultured fish, and its pathogenicity to Nile tilapia remains unknown....

The essential oil of alfavaca (Ocimum gratissimum) contains important compounds, such as 1.8-cineol and eugenol. This study evaluated the effects of diets containing alfavaca essential oil on the zootechnical performance, plasma glucose, leukocyte respiratory activity, haematology, and intestinal histomorphometry in “cachara” (Pseudoplatystoma reti...

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity and efficacy of synthetic host defence peptides (HDPs), alone or in combination with florfenicol (FFC), oxytetracycline (OTC) or thiamphenicol (TAP), against different pathogenic bacteria isolated from diseased fish. Methods and results: Solid-phase synthesis, purification, and charact...

Aeromonas jandaei is an emerging fish pathogen associated with massive mortalities in cultured freshwater fish. This study investigated the morphological, biochemical, molecular, virulence, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial susceptibility characteristics of four strains of A. jandaei involved in the occurrence of mass mortalities of cultured Nile ti...

Maximum Likelihood nucleotide substitution models applied in this study. Bayesian Information Criteron - BIC, Akaike Information Criterion, corrected - AICc, Maximum Likelihood value - lnL, Gamma distribution - + G, evolutionary invariable sites - + I, transition/transversion bias - R, nucleotide frequencies - f, and rates of base subtituitions - r...

Physicochemical parameters of water during in vivo experiments. The data are presented as the arithmetic mean ± standard deviation (minimum-maximum values).

Bayesian Inference nucleotide substitution models applied in this study. Akaike Information Criterion, corrected - AICc, Maximum Likelihood value - lnL, Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano substitution model - HKY, symmetrical substitution model - SYM, transitional substitution model - TIM, transversional substitution model - TVM.

Apresentação O aquarismo é um passatempo que cresceu no século 20 e segue em franco crescimento no século atual, especialmente graças à verticalização nas cidades. Uma forte indústria de insumos – rações, aditivos para condicionamento da água de aquários e lagos, aditivos para controle e profilaxia de enfermidades, sistemas de iluminação, filtragem...

This study evaluated the dietary supplementation of ginger Zingiber officinale essential oil for the Neotropical catfish Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum, its effects on fish hematology, immunology, the response of these variables to induction of stress (exposition to air for 3 min), and a bacterial challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila, and the effects...

Tambaqui Colossoma macropomum is the most cultivated native fish in South America and Aeromonas hydrophila is one of the main bacteria infecting tropical fish. Despite the economic importance of this round fish, to date, there has been a paucity of investigations into haematological changes in tambaqui. In this study, detailed blood analyses (0 h,...

The present study describes the morphological, histopathological and SSU rDNA data of a new myxosporean species infecting farmed Astyanax lacustris fish from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Henneguya lambariensis sp. nov. was found infecting the gills, and the plasmodial development resulted in displacement, blood congestion, compression, deformati...

Triploid induction is a promising biotechnique that could be used to enhance aquaculture yields in the near future. However, studies conducted with several fish species have demonstrated that the presence of an extra set of chromosomes may result in deleterious health effects. Furthermore, studies of fish immune responses still need to be conducted...

Monogenean infection of the internal organs is extremely rare when compared to external infections. This study describes mass mortality of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) originating from co-infection with Enterogyrus spp. and Aeromonas jandaei following transport stress. The first fish deaths occurred on day 1 post-transport, while cumulat...

Chromatogram of synthesized and purified peptides determined by HPLC.

Among the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which act as natural antibiotics in preventing the colonization of pathogens, LL-37 is noteworthy. It is a human cathelicidin characterized as a broad-spectrum antibiotic, with chemotactic and immunomodulatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and therapeutic effectiveness o...

The use of essential oils (EOs) is a promising strategy for reducing antibiotic use in aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition, in vitro cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of 16 commercial plant-derived EOs against Aeromonas hydrophila, A. jandaei and Citrobacter freundii isolated from diseased freshwater fish (Ore...

In this study, the identification and characterization of potential probiotic bacteria present in natural microbiota of tambaqui Colossoma macromum were performed for the first time. Bacteria from the intestinal mucosa were isolated in agar Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS). Only Gram‐positive and haemolysis‐negative isolates were selected (n = 152). Th...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Bacillus subtilis dietary supplementation on Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum in the feeding training phase. The commercial probiotic Calsporin® containing B. subtilis at a concentration of 109 UFC-1 was evaluated at five levels of inclusion in the diet (0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%). Analyses of haematolog...

In the present experiment, the effects of mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) on health and growth of Nile tilapia juveniles were investigated. In addition to the control treatment (without MOS),three levels of MOS were included in Nile tilapia diets (1, 8, and 15 g kg−1), and hematology, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, lysozyme and productive p...

The production of tambaqui Colossoma macropomum has recently reached a milestone, being considered the main native species produced in South American continental waters. Despite the importance of this fish, its immunity is not well understood. In this study we established some patterns of innate immunity for the species via two experiments. Both st...

Overall, this preliminary study suggests that dietary β-glucan supplementation enhances growth performance of P. reticulatum juveniles and does not negatively affect the fish haematology. The bacterial challenge data indicate that β-glucan supplementation did not affect how the fish haematological variables responded to the disease. More in depth s...

This study evaluated the hematological, biochemical, and histopathological responses of sorubim Pseudoplatystoma spp., experimentally infected with Lactococcus garvieae. Sorubim juveniles (n = 66; 21.3 ± 5.5 g; 17.1 ± 1.3 cm) were infected with L. garvieae by coelmatic inoculation (1.5 × 108 CFU mL−1) and sampling to 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days post-i...

Background: Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) is one of the most important Neotropical aquaculture species from South America. Disease outbreaks caused by Aeromonas hydrophila infection have been considered significant contributors to the declining levels of pacu production. The current implementation of genomic selection for disease resistance has b...

Tambaqui Colossoma macropomum is the most produced native fish in South America. Besides the lack of knowledge regarding bacteria-stricken diseases, the unappropriated using of off-label therapies are common. In this study, Aeromonas hydrophila pathogenicity for tambaqui was first established by Koch's Postulate. Lethal doses (LD) were settled for...

Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is the main native fish farmed in South American continental aquaculture. One of the major pathogens affecting world fresh water aquaculture is the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila, which generates several disease outbreaks and production losses in farmed tambaqui stocks. Up to date, there are no studies focusing on un...

Background Pacu ( Piaractus mesopotamicus ) is one of the most important neotropical aquaculture species in South America. Disease outbreaks triggered by the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila have resulted in significant losses to pacu production. Selective breeding using genomic information is a powerful strategy to improve disease resistance in fish...

Aeromonas hydrophila is responsible for outbreaks of a severe infectious disease in fish farms around the world and is one of the major causes of economic losses to the neotropical fish farmers. This study assessed the induction of immune responses and protection against A. hydrophila in pacu, Piaractus mesopotamicus, vaccinated through intraperito...

Due to the lack of drugs regulated for aquaculture, we have evaluated the use of albendazole (ABZ) – a potential drug to be regulated for fish – under food safety perspectives assessing the depletion profile of ABZ and its main metabolites (albendazole sulphoxide – ABZSO, albendazole sulphone – ABZSO2 and albendazole amino sulphone – ABZ-2-NH2SO2)...

Aquaculture growth was expressive in the last years, especially from native Brazilian species such as lambari, a small fish with a short life cycle and easy handling. However, the intensification of its production has caused an increase on the number of diseases that affect the species, especially of parasites. The lack of licensed products for par...

There is an immediate requirement for the novel antimicrobials in aquaculture, mainly because of the high rate of evolving antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Screening compounds for antimicrobial activity against fish pathogenic bacteria is a cost-effective and sustainable solution to address this challenge. In the present work,we investigated the in v...

There is an immediate requirement for the novel antimicrobials in aquaculture, mainly because of the high rate of evolving antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Screening compounds for antimicrobial activity against fish pathogenic bacteria is a cost-effective and sustainable solution to address this challenge. In the present work,we investigated the in v...

The production of tambaqui Colossoma macropomum has been undergoing financial losses due to parasitic infection by the acanthocephalan Neoechinorhynchus buttnerae, raising an alert for aquaculture in South America. The lack of adequate treatment and use of unlicensed chemicals encourages research for alternative solutions with minimal side effects....

The indiscriminate use of antimicrobials in aquaculture has significantly contributed to the emergence of bacterial resistance and accumulation of antimicrobial residues in the environment. Given this scenario, it is necessary to develop environmentally-friendly and effective therapies for the treatment of bacteriosis in fish farming. The use of es...

Although the potential of surrogate propagation technology for aquaculture and conservation of Neotropical fish, the poor understanding of the host immune system may results in rejection and destruction of the donor material. Thus, it is necessary to study and to develop methods to evaluate the effects of immunosuppressive drugs employment and to e...

Pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) is one of the main farmed freshwater fish species of South America. Disease outbreaks caused by Aeromonas hydrophila are considered one of the major bottlenecks for the development of pacu production. Genetic selection for disease resistance may represent a sustainable and effective alternative to reduce mortality and...

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of dietary arginine concentrations on the health status of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cultivated in cages. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with four treatments (2.3, 2.9, 3.5, and 4.1% arginine in dry matter) and three replicates, in 12 net cages of 8 m...

This study investigated the effects of prolonged administration of immunostimulant biomass produced by the bacteria Rubrivivax gelatinosus on the innate immune system of pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus infected with Aeromonas hydrophila. Fish were supplemented for 2 months with diets containing 0 g kg⁻¹ biomass (TR1), 0.5 g kg⁻¹ biomass (TR2) and 1.5...

Due to the lack of regulated drugs for aquaculture, the present study considered specific issues relating to environmental and food safety aspects concerning the potential use of emamectin benzoate (EMA) in freshwater fishes such as tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) – an important commercial fish species worldwide. The residual depletion of EMA (EMA-...

Larvae production and growth is considered a ‘bottle neck’ for many aquaculture species and early life history plays a key role in this process. Although in the last few decades considerable research has been conducted in different fields to improve larvae development, very few reports have investigated methods to improve fish embryo development an...

Data for: Combination of antimicrobials as an approach to reduce their application in aquaculture: emphasis on the use of thiamphenicol/florfenicol against Aeromonas hydrophila

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil (TVEO) is a herbal medicine with one of the highest levels of antimicrobial activity. Although TVEO has been broadly used in poultry and swine production due to its immunostimulatory and growth-promoting characteristics, the effects of TVEO on fish are poorly characterized. In this study, Nile tilapia (Oreochro...

Larvae production is considered a ‘bottle neck’ for many aquaculture species and early life history plays a key role in this process. Although considerable research has been conducted in different fields to improve fish larvae productivity, very few reports have investigated methods to improve embryo development and consequently larvae quality/prod...

In this experiment, the beneficial effects of mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) on immunology and intestinal microbiology of Nile tilapia juveniles was demonstrated. Prior to this, three levels of MOS in Nile tilapia diets (1, 8, and 15 g.kg⁻¹) were tested, and hematological parameters, serum lysozyme, and intestinal microbiology were analyzed. The fish...

Fish are treated routinely with antibiotics to prevent, treat, or control diseases. One consequence of the use of antibiotics in aquaculture is the presence of residues of the drug in the edible tissues of the treated fish, as well as environmental hazards. Another potential consequence is the exposure of the human consumer to resistant bacteria. R...

Parasitic diseases have caused significant problems to global aquaculture production. These studies will further our knowledge of this complex problem and help implement adequate prevention measures and control strategies. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of parasites in Megaleporinus obtusidens and to describe the epidemiology a...

The use of highly effective combination of antimicrobials is a promising strategy for increasing treatment efficacy, controlling the bacterial drug resistance and reducing the use of antimicrobials in aquaculture. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro activity and in vivo therapeutic effectiveness of thiamphenicol (TAP) combined with fl...

The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils from Lippia alba, Lippia sidoides, Mentha piperita, Ocimum gratissimum and Zingiber officinale was tested against Streptococcus agalactiae. The major compounds in the oils, identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS), were geranial (25.4%), neral (16.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (16...

The pacu is one of the most important species for Brazilian fish farming and is considered emerging in the global aquaculture. Despite its importance, no effective tool for evaluation of the adaptive immune response of this species has been developed. Therefore, this study aimed the development and standardization of indirect ELISA for the measurem...

Aeromonas hydrophila is a Gram-negative motile bacillus responsible for substantial losses in global aquaculture, which also poses a risk to human health. Aeromonosis outbreaks are associated with excess organic matter in water supplies, failure in management, primary parasitic infestations, and the presence of powerful bacterial virulence factors....

Restricted contact between wild amphibians and cultured fish facilitates the transmission of various diseases, including parasitic diseases. The trichodinids are one of the most important ectoparasites in fish farming in continental aquaculture, as they cause significant lesions in the integument and in the gills of the animals, causing mortality o...