Scientific Program

Conference Series Ltd invites all the participants across the globe to attend 2nd International Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics Toronto | Canada.

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Scientific Program Day 1
Scientific Program Day 2

Day 2 :

Keynote Forum

Clara Desvignes

Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, France

Keynote: Microbiome health products: Drugs or foods? Pros and cons of each route, constraints and advantages
Biography:

As a senior regulatory scientist at VCLS, Clara is involved in the development of microbiome-related health products, both in the medical and food area. Clara earned an engineering degree majoring in Sciences and Technologies of human biology, nutrition and food, at AgroParisTech, France. She also studied specialized food products in the University of Milan, Italy, as part of her engineering’s degree. Prior to joining VCLS, and as part of her engineering degree, Clara worked for 6 months at RNI-Consulting (Angers, France), where she gained particular experience in the areas of for nutritionals and nutraceuticals.

Abstract:

Microbiome based health products may vary a lot in its nature and aims, from the dietary supplementation for maintenance of a healthy status to the curative medicinal formulation (drug). Foods and drugs developments individually present benefits and constraints that should be carefully considered:
• Whereas food claims must be individually approved by the competent Authority, there are no “preapproved” drug claims which have to be individually assessed during the market access procedure. Foods claims may be easier to use than medicinal claims, however their extent is much more limited.
• The regulatory process for market access can be very simple for food products, where for drugs it is more complex, long and expensive.
• During development, for drugs, nonclinical and clinical data should mandatorily be provided to support the related dossier. Such data are not an absolute requirement in the development of a food product: the lack of clear requirements can make it difficult to satisfy the Authority’s expectations.
• Microbiome health products can benefit from specific competitive advantages in the form of market exclusivity and data protection periods. Such protections are not systematic but can present a real competitive advantage on the market.
• Post-market surveillance has to be implemented in both food and drug cases, although a full pharmacovigilance system with mandatory serious event reporting is much more burdensome in the case of drugs.
The development process for a drug can be much more burdensome, long and expensive than development for food; however it gives access to a wider range of applications, is the opportunity to tackle more specific health issues and provides access to a market with less competition. The more relevant status should be anticipated and carefully determined, to capitalize on this emerging field as an opportunity to stand out by harnessing the associated benefits and constraints rather than enduring them.
 

Keynote Forum

Behnam Khatabi

University of Maryland Eastern Shore, USA

Keynote: Study of impact of phyobiome on plant health and future biocontrol trends
Biography:

Behnam Khatabi is an Assistant Professor of plant-microbe interactions at the University Of Maryland Eastern Shore, Maryland, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biology from the University Of Giessen, Germany in 2009 investigating the molecular mechanism of host compatibility during root fungal endophyte. Dr. Khatabi’s research program provides novel insights into host adaptation to environmental stresses induced by plant microbial communities (phytobiome). Dr. Khatabi incorporates a variety of molecular, cellular and genetic approaches, coupled to high-throughput sequencing to characterize genes and proteins regulating plant defense response to plant pathogens and beneficial microorganisms.

Abstract:

In response to the critical need for environmentally sustainable agriculture, alternatives to reduce chemical products are being sought actively. Several pioneering researches have been carried out to improve plant health using microbial-derived products. It is now clearly established that plant-associated microbial communities, phyto-microbiome, perform complex interactions with their host and carry out various plant beneficial activities including suppression of plant pathogens, promotion of plant growth and adaptive advantage to plants. In addition, beneficial microbes have profound effects on seed germination, seedling vigor, nutrition, plant health, and development of the innate immune system. It is noteworthy that the composition of phyto-microbiome is host-specific and related to its health status. Therefore, analysis of plant microbiome data provides advance understanding of its role in plant health and enhanced disease resistance by biological control of plant pathogens. Understanding the structural and functional responses of microbial communities goes far beyond characterizing their diversity. Multi-omics technologies allow much deeper insights into the function, structure, dynamics and significance of plantassociated microbial communities in both natural and manmade environments. This in turn will allow us to explore functional signaling molecules active within natural habitats, and thus better understand symbiotic relationships. We see a sustainable future for agriculture through restoring or retaining the health of the plants and those bio-based solutions including probiotics, synbiotics and biocontrol agents which could support the pathogen-suppressing ability of the plants’ native microbiome. Bioengineering of the phyto- microbiome enables scientists to affect plant health and presents a feasible strategy for future biocontrol trends in an eco-friendly way.
 

  • Probiotics and Nutrition | Gut Microbiome | Probiotics in Maintaining Health and Preventing Diseases

Chair

Judith Perez Peralta

St. Luke’s Medical Center, Philippines

Co-Chair

Clara Desvignes

Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, France

Session Introduction

Andrea Roncolini

Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy

Title: Edible insects in aquaculture: Microbial dynamics in the expolitation of Hermetia illucens as fish meal replacement

Time : 13:30-14:00

Biography:

Andrea Roncolini Doctoral candidate at D3A-UNIVPM. His doctoral project concerns the investigation about microbiological aspects of edible insect as food and feed. Through culture-dependent (microbial cultivation, isolation and enumeration) and independent methods (molecular biology methods) he studies edible insects microbiota characterization, occurrence of transferable resistance genes in edible insects and exploitation of insect powder in bread making. He is also involved in other projects concerning the exploitation of lactic acid bacteria (isolation, characterization and development of starters) for the production of fermented foods, the microbiological food safety analysis, the use of biotracers for environmental assays. He had a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology at University of Perugia and his Thesis concerned the taxonomic and ecologic characterization of yeasts isolated from Alpine soils. He had a Professional Master’s Programme with merit-based scholarship in “Characterization and technologies for the remediation of polluted sites” at University of Rome “La Sapienza”.

Abstract:

n 2015, EFSA listed a few insect species for their potential as food and feed in the European Union (EFSA Scientific Committee, 2015). Between those species Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) represents a potential feed for animal rearing, due to its ability in efficiently converting organic wastes into biomass – rich in high-quality protein and fat (Diener et al., 2011; van Huis et al., 2013). Indeed in this study, Danio rerio, a fish species considered as a model for the study of vertebrate development, was fed with three different diets: (i) H. illucens reared on waste obtained from roasting coffee process; (ii) H. illucens reared on insects commercial growth substrate; (iii) a typical fish meal as control diet (Wixon, 2000). In this context, in order to satisfy EFSA request (ANSES Opinion, 2015), the aim of the present study was to investigate the microbial dynamics along the entire D. rerio rearing chain using H. illucens as fish meal replacement. In more detail, typical fish meal, H. illucens and its growth substrates and frasses were subjected to microbial viable counts for the enumeration of total mesophilic areobes, spore forming bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and eumycetes. Moreover the microbiota of the already cited samples and D. rerio gut samples reared with the three different diets was studied by PCR DGGE and metagenomic sequencing. Among the different insect rearing chains microbial enumeration showed several distinct trends depending on rearing chain or analyzed microbes. Furthermore, PCR DGGE and metagenomic sequencing results highlighted a high biodiversity in the analyzed samples. The present study was supported by Cariverona scientific research 2017, project n° PJ 2017.0571 - NUTRIFISH.

Hanan Shehata

University of Guelph, Canada

Title: Enumeration of probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei Lc-11 using viability real time PCR
Biography:

Hanan Shehata has completed her PhD at the University of Guelph. Hanan is currently an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the Natural Health Product (NHP) Research Alliance, University of Guelph.

Abstract:

Probiotic production and consumption have been rapidly increasing due to their potential health benefits. Probiotics are “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host”. Health benefits of probiotics are strain-specific and are dose-dependent. Hence, it is essential to include the correct strain names and the viable cell count throughout the shelf life on probiotic product labels. A tool is needed for quick and accurate identification and enumeration of viable cells in probiotic products. PCR based methods are the most commonly used methods for food diagnostics because they are quick and sensitive. Viability PCR is a technique that uses intercalating dyes to intercalate to DNA of membrane-damaged cells so this DNA cannot amplify in a PCR reaction. In this study, viability PCR was used for the enumeration of probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei Lc-11 using strainspecific primers. The effectiveness of PMAxx was proven by its ability to differentiate between viable and heat-killed cells. The linear dynamic range was established between 3.7*105 to 37 genomes. The LOD was determined to be equivalent to 37 genomes (corresponding to 18.7 CFU). The reaction efficiency averaged to 101%. R square values were >0.99. The RSD% for repeatability and reproducibility averaged to 0.4% and 1.9%, respectively. Bacterial counts of Lc-11 products were determined using viability PCR and compared to the standard plate count method. The counts from both methods were highly correlated with R square >0.99. This protocol enables accurate and fast probiotic enumeration.
 

Riccardo Sabbatini

Marche Polytechnic University, Italy

Title: The potential role of essential oils as preservatives against spoilage yeasts in yogurt

Time : 14:30-15:00

Biography:

Riccardo Sabbatini is a PhD student at the department of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at Polytechnic University of Marche. Riccardo Sabbatini have a Master’s degree in Applied Biology at Marche Polytechnic University. Riccardo Sabbatini Master’s Degree Thesis concerned the evaluation of the fermentative attitudes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains to produce craft beers. My doctoral project is in food microbiology and it’s based on the study of methods for the study of pro-technological and spoilage yeasts in food industry. 

Abstract:

Contamination of foods by spoilage yeasts could lead to a reduced food product shelf-life due to gas production and undesirable off-flavors and off-odours. Considering the growing consumer’s demand for natural foods without chemical preservatives, the food industry has been induced to research alternative solutions to guarantee the required microbiological standards. A plant-derived natural antimicrobials such as essential oils have emerged as effective compounds against spoilage microorganisms and/or pathogens which could affect food safety and stability. In this context, the aim of this study was to assess the potential role of 7 different essential oils (cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, mandarin, orange, lemon and lime) as preservatives in yogurt against spoilage yeasts. These essential oils were chosen for their possible positive attribution to yogurt’s flavour and odour. The antifungal activity of these essential oils was evaluated by disc diffusion assay on 75 spoilage yeast strains isolated from yogurts prepared with buffalo milk. The tested yeasts belonged to the genera Candida, Rhodotorula, Debaryomyces, Kluyveromyces and Yarrowia. The best performing essential oils were cinnamon and lemongrass. Therefore, they were selected for further minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) assay using the micro-well dilution method. Based on the obtained results, the potential role of the selected essential oils as preservatives was tested directly in yogurts intentionally contaminated by selected yeast strains in order to confirm their efficiency against yeast spoilage and to evaluate their sensory impact on the final product through a final acceptance test.

Jose Luis Martinez

Université Laval, Canada

Title: Epistemology of a new era of healthy foods and the construction of social myths
Biography:

Jose Luis Martinez is an architect of scientific thought, stimulated by the epistemological has developed his career in the biological sciences. Engineer, master of science and candidate for a doctorate in food science, traveled around the world to learn about how people live and eat, and to learn about traditional aspects of food, intensifying these experiences to their scientific knowledge. Currently, he has focused his studies on understanding the results and paradigms in research on the microbiome.

Abstract:

The epistemology of food is my proposal to elucidate the forms of creation of scientific and non-scientific knowledge about the food phenomenon. From the rhetorics emanating from scientific discourses and in their dissemination, it is worth analyzing the construction of myths, paradigms and popular distortions in the daily life of the individual. New paradigms, scientific discoveries, are often disseminated in a deterministic manner, reducing the knowledge. These disclosures sometimes commercial, generate a complexity of reactions in society concerning the scientific task. Foods with probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics are part of those scientific innovations that their health functions are often diverted into myths because of adequate information. Commercial food claims are legislated. However, the social construction of science is also an identity crisis in modern societies. Then, from the food option of the individual, how identities are constructed and this identity is also associated with manifestations of the state of health. However, an individual has access to food-related to certain socio-economic conditions and cultural conditions specific to their geopolitical origin. Nowadays, talking about food is linked to thinking about health, nutrition, economy, environment, but it is also necessary to talk about the right to food. This raises, approximately, sustainable public policies to guarantee the right to “eat healthily” and “culturally appropriate”.
 

Daryl Lee

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Title: Use of herbs and spices to increase the productivity of microalgae
Biography:

Abstract:

Commercial production of microalgal biomass is impeded by low growth rates and contamination issues. Herbs and spices are known to suppress microbial growth. Selected herbs and spices were used to promote the growth of Chlorella sp. and suppress contaminations. Both aqueous extract and powder form of herbs and spices were tested. Aqueous extracts of herbs and spices were in general growthpromoting whereas those in the form of powder were growth-inhibiting. Fatty acid and carbohydrate contents were also found to increase with the introduction of aqueous extracts of herbs and spices. The proposed novel strategy offers improved microalgal productivity by increasing the growth rate of microalgae and reducing culture crashes.

G. Zheng

Lincoln University, USA

Title: Biological control of post-harvest contamination of Salmonella in lettuce by using a native strain, Bacillus subtilis LG-7
Biography:

Dr. Zheng completed his PhD from University of Arkansas, Fayettville, Arkansas, USA. He is corrently an Assosciate Professor in the Departmet of Agriculture and Environmental Science at Lincoln University.Mr. Khanal earned his master’s degree from Lincoln Univesity and currently a tachnician at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

Abstract:

Fresh lettuce and other produce are known to be associated with several recent foodborne outbreaks in the United States. The objectives of this study were to isolate endospore-forming bacteria from lettuce and to use them as the biocontrol agents to reduce and prevent foodborne pathogens from contamination in lettuce. The isolate B. subtilis LG-7a strain was one of the 4 isolates that were relatively potent against the three foodborne pathogens in the agar tests. A cat-tagged B. subtilis LG-7a strain was genetically engineered to facilitate the evaluation of the efficacy of B. subtilis LG-7a in controlling post-harvest Salmonella contamination in lettuce. The efficacy was evaluated respectively at 4 °C, room temperature, and 37 °C. It was found that although the anti-Salmonella cat-tagged B. subtilis LG-7a (cattagged LG-7a) could colonize in/on lettuce stem in the range of 2, 000 CFU per g of stem, it did not inhibit for at least the first day of postharvest the replication of the pathogen spiked on the cut surface of lettuce under both room temperature and 37 °C. However, cat-tagged LG-7a began to show inhibition against the spiked Salmonella after the second day of postharvest under 37°C. Overall, this study suggests that the efficacy of colonized Bacillus bacteria in controlling the post-harvest Salmonella contamination may not be higher than the refrigeration and that the value of the isolates in control pre-harvest pathogen contamination in lettuce may be the focus of the future studyFresh lettuce and other produce are known to be associated with several recent foodborne outbreaks in the United States. The objectives of this study were to isolate endospore-forming bacteria from lettuce and to use them as the biocontrol agents to reduce and prevent foodborne pathogens from contamination in lettuce. The isolate B. subtilis LG-7a strain was one of the 4 isolates that were relatively potent against the three foodborne pathogens in the agar tests. A cat-tagged B. subtilis LG-7a strain was genetically engineered to facilitate the evaluation of the efficacy of B. subtilis LG-7a in controlling post-harvest Salmonella contamination in lettuce. The efficacy was evaluated respectively at 4 °C, room temperature, and 37 °C. It was found that although the anti-Salmonella cat-tagged B. subtilis LG-7a (cattagged LG-7a) could colonize in/on lettuce stem in the range of 2, 000 CFU per g of stem, it did not inhibit for at least the first day of postharvest the replication of the pathogen spiked on the cut surface of lettuce under both room temperature and 37 °C. However, cat-tagged LG-7a began to show inhibition against the spiked Salmonella after the second day of postharvest under 37°C. Overall, this study suggests that the efficacy of colonized Bacillus bacteria in controlling the post-harvest Salmonella contamination may not be higher than the refrigeration and that the value of the isolates in control pre-harvest pathogen contamination in lettuce may be the focus of the future study

Hiroki Hosaka

Nihon University, Japan

Title: Growth of human intestinal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli by sucrose analog disaccharides

Time : 15:50-17:00

Biography:

Hiroki Hosaka is completed his master at the age of 24 years from Bioresource Utilization Science Course, Graduate School of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University. Now, he is a Ph.D. student and researching prebiotics oligosaccharide. He has published more than 3 papers.

Abstract:

Most of the prebiotics oligosaccharides used to consist of a combination of three kinds of neutral monosaccharides D-glucose, D-galactose, and D-fructose because edible and abundant carbohydrates such as starch, sucrose, and lactose were used as raw materials for the production of them. We are attempting to develop prebiotics oligosaccharides containing monosaccharides other than the above ones using enzymatic reaction. Until now, utilizing transfructosylation actions of β-fructofuranosidases of Aspergillus oryzae and Microbacterium saccharophilum, we had succeeded in the synthesis of 4 types of novel sucrose analog disaccharides (sucrose in, N-acetylsucrosamin, sucuronic acid, and sucuronamide) in which D-glucose residue of sucrose was replaced with glucosamine, N-acetyl glucosamine, glucuronic acid, or glucuronamide. At first, we decided to evaluate their prebiotics function by examining proliferation effects on various strains of human intestinal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in pure culture conditions. We investigated the growth of 12 strains of bifidobacteria with 8 different species and 3 strains of lactobacilli with different species under an anaerobic environment in the medium containing each sucrose analog disaccharide as a carbohydrate nutrient source. As the result, following 3 different patterns on the assimilation of sucrose analog disaccharides were observed among bifidobacteria strains used: Those that hardly utilize these disaccharides (Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum etc.), those that utilize specific one among these disaccharides (Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum etc.), and those that utilize all of these disaccharides (Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis etc.). From the results of the experiments using 3 strains of lactobacilli, it was confirmed that either strain proliferated by consuming SucA besides Suc.
 

Bukola Ayilara

Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria

Title: Effects of probiotics on growth and nutrient utilization of yearling calves
Biography:

Abstract:

The current study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of yearling calves supplemented with varying levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus subtilis. The Experiment was carried out at the cattle unit of the teaching and research farm directorate of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Ogun State, Nigeria. The laboratory works were carried out at the Institute of Agricultural Research And Training, Ibadan, College of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Animal Nutrition, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. A total of twenty-four yearling calves were assigned to four groups of treatments with three animals per treatment. The animals were allotted to eight dietary treatments containing B. subtilis and S. cerevisiae at different inclusion levels with two control diets in a 2x4 factorial design and Panicum maximum fed as the basal diet. Final weight, total weight gain, daily weight gain, concentrate intake, total feed intake, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and intake per body weight were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by both the probiotics and the levels of inclusion. S. cerevisiae supplementation had a higher significant (p<0.05) values in the parameters measured while B. subtilis supplementation had lower values. On the other hand, B. subtilis supplementation had higher significant values in feed conversion ratio while S. cerevisiae supplementation had lower values. From the study, it was shown that supplementation of the diets of calves with probiotics at various levels increased nutrient intake, digestibility coefficients, feed intake, weight gain and nutrient digestibility of the calves. 

Torres Meza Oscar Abel

National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico

Title: Presence of the causative agent of koi herpesvirus disease (CyHV3) in migratory wild ducks
Biography:

Torres Meza Oscar Abel is a master’s degree student in animal production and health since 2018. He completed his studies in veterinary medicine and animal husbandry in 2017.

Abstract:

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV3) is the etiological agent of disease known as koi herpesvirus disease highly contagious and lethal for the Cyrprinus caripo varieties. Since its first reports in the United State and Israel in late 1990, it has been distributed throughout Asia, Europe and some countries in America. Although Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 has been detected in wild carp, little has been studied about its involvement in dissemination to other species of wild animals. A study about viromy of intestinal contents of migratory wild ducks of the genus Anas, Mareca and Spatula evidenced the presence of diverse viral families of birds, fish, plants, invertebrates, and bacteria. A considerable part of the sequences obtained corresponded to the family Alloherpesviridae, where there is genus Cyprinivirus which includes the species Cyprinid herpesvirus 1, 2 and 3. By PCR technique positive samples were obtained to amplify the TK gen fragment corresponding to CyHV3.
 

  • Probiotics Microbiome in Drug Development-bugs as drugs | Commercialization of Probiotics in Market Development Perspectives | Bacterial physiology | Beneficial Soil Microbes | Beneficial Microbes in Food and Dairy Industry | Worldwide safety and regulatory issues
Location: Park Inn By Radisson

Chair

Yasuhiro Koga

Tokai University School of Mediciner, Japan

Co-Chair

Mozhgan Sepehri

Shiraz University, Iran

Session Introduction

M. Wali Rahimi

SRL Diagnostics, Afghanistan

Title: Prevalence of symptomatic urinary tract infections and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Kabul region of Afghanistan
Biography:

Abstract:

This cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of UTI among population visiting Antani Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan to identify microorganisms responsible for UTI to explore susceptibility patterns of identified microorganisms to certain antibiotics used in the cure of UTI. This study included 650 samples of 20-80 years age groups that conducted in SRL Diagnostics of Afghanistan, Kabul city, Afghanistan. Midstream urine samples were collected from patients of both genders. All samples were cultured aerobically in Blood agar, MaCconkey agar and CLED medium. The identification of isolated bacteria were performed using manual biochemical tests. All uropathogenic isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The prevalence of UTIs were 15.8%. The frequency of UTIs was 11.7% in males and 17.6% in females. Out of total positive cultures, 25.5% (30/85) were Gram positive bacteria and 74.5(55/85) were Gram negative bacteria. Escherichia coli were the most predominant uro-pathogen with 42 (49.4%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 16 (18.8%) and Proteus mirabilis 12(14.1%). Most lactose fermenter Gram-ve bacteria were sensitive to Cefepime and all Gram positive isolates were sensitive to Meropenem. In this study, it was concluded that there is marked variation in the prevalence of UTIs (between males and females) and antibiotics susceptibility patterns of uropathogens. Meropenem is appropriate antibiotics to treated UTIs causes by Gram positive bacteria. These data demonstrate that future studies should be focused on the causes of antibiotics resistance to solve this problem
 

Mozhgan Sepehri

Shiraz University, Iran

Title: Plant stress tolerance by fungal endophytes; what have we learned from multifaceted plant-endophytes interactions?
Biography:

Dr. Mozhgan Sepehri is an Assistant Professor of plant-microbe interactions at Shiraz University, Iran. Dr. Sepehri’s research program provides novel insights into host adaptation to environmental stresses induced by plant microbial communities. She incorporates biotechnological approaches such as proteomics and metabolomics to decipher the molecular mechanisms of induced abiotic stresses in plants by beneficial microorganisms. She seeks a fuller understanding of the phytobiome as a natural supply of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms with the individual or collective capacity to promote plant health. 

Abstract:

Abiotic stresses are the the most important challenges facing agriculture, due to preventing plants from realizing their full genetic potential for growth and reproduction. Hence, improving plant growth and productivity under stress conditions has gained high agricultural priority worldwide as the environmental stresses persistently limit choice of crops and agricultural production in many areas of the world. Over the past decades, advanced molecular techniques have been used to develope new crop varieties with enhanced stress tolerance. Benefits aside, molecular breeding as an effective trait in improvement of several crops comes with many potential drawbacks which significantly limit its potential outcomes. The application of some plant-associated microorganisms, including endophytic fungi opened up new possibilities for improving stress adaptation of the host plants growing under environmental stresses. In recent years, several studies have been carried out to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying endophytes-mediated stress tolerance in agriculturally important plants. In the postgenomic era, omics-based approaches including genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics have been widely used as powerful techniques in the field of abiotic stress tolerance in crops; since they allow rapid identification of specific genes, proteins and metabolites that contribute to better plant performance under stress conditions. Also, plant endogenous small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNA (siRNAs) play an important role in regulating plant defense machinery against environmental stresses. New information about the role of miRNAs during plant-microbe interaction led to exploiting the novel miRNAs and their targeted genes to generate stress-tolerant crops in future.
 

Sipra Mohapatra

Ehime University, Japan

Title: Sex and sex steroids are eminent regulators of fish autophagy
Biography:

Sipra Mohapatra has completed her PhD from Central Institute of Fisheries Education (Mumbai, India) in 2010. She has done her postdoctoral studies from Southwest University (China), and Ehime University (Japan) and is at present working as an Assistant Professor at Ehime University, Japan. She has published 19 peer-reviewed articles and written 2 book chapters and is a reviewer in 4 reputed journals. She is the recipient of more than 5 awards and scholarships and has worked as lead/co-lead in over 10 projects. 

Abstract:

Autophagy is a cellular process that delivers cytoplasmic material to the lysosome for recycling. It is stimulated above the basal or resting rate when nutrients are scarce, cells are under stress, or damaged organelles need to be degraded. High throughput transcriptional profiling suggested that autophagic involvement in early disease resistance and stress management differed between male and female fish. Since, sex steroid and their responsive receptors, especially estrogen and estrogen receptors (ERs), abundances are sexually dimorphic, we deduced that sex-biased autophagy may be regulated by ERs. To prove that, we used ER and ER2 knockout (KO) medaka and analyzed the alterations in the autophagic genes and protein expression in the liver and gonad. We found significantly increased mTOR expression in ER-KO, but not in ER2-KO female fish. This suggested differential involvement of ERs in autophagic regulation, which was further confirmed by ULK and Beclin transcription, and mitochondrial population. Interestingly, the LC3 (the last major autophagy factor) contents/cell and LC3 positive cells were increased significantly in ER-KO fish. In-depth analysis showed that LC3 nuclear-cytoplasmic transports were partially (ER2-KO) or completely (ER-KO) compromised due to SIRT/DOR protein regulation in the nucleus. We also found that autophagy is not only instrumental in germ cell degeneration but also important for oocyte and sperm formation/development in the ER-KO fish. Cumulatively our data highlights the sexbiased autophagy and ER association, stress-influenced apoptosis/autophagy cell fate decision, and the immense significance of autophagy in fish liver and gonad physiology.
 

Sivan Klas

ORT Braude College of Engineering, Israel

Title: Groundwater desalination brine: A new water source for aquaculture in arid areas
Biography:

Sivan Klas has completed his PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Technion IIT (2010) and postdoctoral studies in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto (2012). He has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biotechnology Engineering, ORT Braude College of Engineering and a Management Committee member in a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action.

Abstract:

Construction of groundwater desalination plants in arid and semi-arid areas is increasing. Already in Israel, millions of cubic meters of brine are produced each year and more are expected shortly. This brine may be used as a new water source for aquaculture, and draws high interest by Israeli inland fish farmers, due to its low cost, constant temperature and pathogen-free characteristics, as well as the opportunity of growing marine species inland. The experience in using groundwater desalination brine for aquaculture is, however, very limited. In unpublished experience, scale formed on essential organs and led to fish mortality. In the current study, sea-bass survival in brine that was pretreated by aeration to reduce calcium concentrations (“softening”) was investigated. Kinetics of the softening process were also studied to assess design criteria for commercial application. Results suggested that under very low water exchange rates, fish can survive even in untreated brine. Over 70% of calcium can be removed in the process, at a hydraulic retention time of several hours. CaCO3 was found to be the dominant precipitant, at up to 1.5kg m-3. The aeration rate was found to have a much stronger effect on kinetics, compared with seed concentration. It was concluded that fish rearing in desalination brine may be feasible and economic, although care must be taken about the exchange rate and biofiltration. A pilot system is planned to operate during 2019 near Kfar Massarik desalination plant in northern Israel.
 

Nandiyeh rouhi

Tarbiat Modares University, Iran

Title: Fish oil extraction and qualification form precooked and non-precooked longtail tuna heads by hot air
Biography:

Nadiyeh Rouhi doing her PhD at Tarbiyat Modares University. She also is fisheries expert at Chabahar Free zone organization and consulting fisheries investors. she is an active, intelligent and goal-oriented individual; she revealed diligence and accuracy along with satisfaction by her work. The aforementioned characteristics can be well manifested on the grade of their final thesis. In addition to academic and research abilities, she has excellent communication skills so she can easily work and cooperate with her coworkers. She has been independently conducting her main research in addition to collaboration with other research fellows on the other related projects.

Abstract:

In this study, fish oil was extracted from precooked and non-precooked longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) heads using hot air cooking at 80ËšC for 30min and extraction yield was measured. To determine fish oil quality, peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), free fatty acids FFA), conjugated dienes (CD), and fatty acid composition was measured in the treatments. The results showed the highest yield in non-precooked heads. Oils obtained from the non-precooked heads showed lower PV, TBA, FFA, and CD compared to the precooked heads. However, a higher amount of DHA polyunsaturated fatty acid (27.50%) was found in oils obtained from precooked heads in comparison with non-precooked heads (18.52%). Crude oil samples were obtained from both the precooked and non-precooked heads contained high levels of palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1), DHA (C22:6), meristic acid (C14:0), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), stearic acid (C18:0), behenic acid (C22:0). In conclusion, oils obtained from the non-precooked samples had higher yields and better quality while the DHA was higher in the oils obtained from precooked samples.
 

Tapas Chakraborty

Ehime University, Japan

Title: Comparative transcriptomics and Edwardsiella detection in fish: A study using medaka and red sea bream
Biography:

Tapas Chakraborty has completed his PhD at the age of 28years from Central Institute of Fisheries Education (Mumbai, India) and National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB, Japan) in 2010. He has done his postdoctoral studies from NIBB and Ehime University (Japan) and is presently working as an Assistant Professor at Ehime University, Japan. He has published more than 22 papers in reputed journals, obtained 2 patents and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute in several esteemed journals. He has received more than 10 awards and scholarships and has worked as lead/ co-lead in 10 projects. 

Abstract:

Fish has been recognized as the most promising and sustainable source of future food security. However, disease outbreak and slow and improper diagnosis often hinder the profitable blue-crop. Interestingly, global diseases like Edwardsiella affects much commercially important fish. To find common remedial measures to curb Edwardsiella infection in fish, a general idea of how the infection affects an individual, especially during early stages is highly essential. Using several in vivo experiments, we have previously shown that Hepcidin1, a gene critically involved in the starvation associated disease management, is a critical biomarker for E. tarda infection in Pagrus major. Owing to E. tarda’s vast infection terrain and enormous host susceptibility, in the present investigation, we aimed to determine the early molecular pathogenesis of E. tarda in a model (medaka) and commercially important (Red sea bream) fish. To achieve our goal, we infected medaka and red sea bream with E. tarda (@109CFU/ml water) and performed comparative transcriptome analysis using 6 and 24hours post infected liver samples. We found that infection altered the complement system gene expression, vitellogenin production, translation initiation, energy metabolism, cell death, iron homeostasis, ion balance pathways. Further real-time PCR analysis confirmed that several genes especially Hepcidin1, Ubiquitin1 (Autophagy regulator), HSP70 (stress management), SDF2 (cell maintenance), SLC41a (Ion balance) and EIF3d (translation initiation) were altered in a time-dependent manner. Although more thorough investigations are pertinent, our present data suggest the possibility of a general E. tarda molecular pathophysiology in fish.
 

Ikram Mercha

Biotechnology / Eco-toxicology & Biodiversity University Hassan II, Morocco

Title: Characterization of technological and probiotic features of interactive lactic acid bacteria isolated from a Moroccan Argane biotope
Biography:

Abstract:

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) occupies a central role as starter cultures in the fermentation process and for their ability to create a healthy equilibrium between beneficial and potentially harmful microorganism in the gut. The objective of this study was to isolate, identify and characterize the technological potential and the probiotic properties of the resident lactic flora in camel milk from a Moroccan Argane biotope. A total of 101 strains of LAB ,obtained from camel milk characterized by a diet based on Argane by-product , were screened for transit tolerance in simulated upper gastrointestinal tract (GI), for adhesion capacity to human intestinal cell lines and for antimicrobial activities against three tested pathogenic strains (E. coli CIP 53126, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enteric CIP 483 CIP 8039). The selected LAB isolates were then identified basing their phenotypic and molecular (16S rRNA) properties. All strains showed good acidifying power, while 95.23% of them can produce texturizing agents (exopolysaccharides) suggesting their possible use to manufacture fermented products. The revelation of the antibacterial activity showed that 61.90% of strains possess an antagonistic effect. Meanwhile, the molecular identification showed that the biodiversity of raw camel milk in the mentioned region is characterized by lactic acid bacteria belonging to the species Lactobacillus Plantarum, Lactobacillus Brevis and Lactococcus lactis sp lactis1. The results obtained indicate interesting technological and probiotic features of isolated lactic strains, belonging to Lactobacillus Plantarum, Lactobacillus Brevis, and Lactococcus lactis sp lactis1 species.