As the project participants together represent a significant part of the Spanish research laboratories that work on several aspects of fish biology, the project will have direct or indirect contact with a number of national and European research projects. This ensures that overlapping research activities are not undertaken or kept to a minimum within Europe research and also that optimal benefits can be drawn from collaboration outside of the proposed consortium.
It is important to point out that several efforts are underway at the European level to increase the coordination of funded projects addressing molecular biology and genomics in fish (Aquafunc and Aquagenome projects). The coordinator, Antonio Figueras, is part of the steering committee of both projects. To our knowledge, this is the first time, in Spain and in Europe that, in the same project, common tools will be used to study problems in the reproduction, immunology, pathology, growth, development, nutrition and stress.
It is also necessary to point out that the work will be carried on the three fish species, in each of which attention will be focussed upon the limiting aspects of their culture. Importantly, the possibility of sharing tools and comparing data sets obtained from the three species provides added value and increases interpretative capacity and therefore knowledge, a situation which would not be encountered if a traditional approach “one species/one problem” was employed.
Since most of the research laboratories involved have broad panels of international collaborators, high participation in EU funded projects and contacts in and outside of Europe, the project will enjoy access to ‘cutting edge’ discoveries related to this field of research.
The present project is based partly on new molecular tools such as functional genomics and proteomics. An important knowledge background for implementation of these tools is genome sequence data, the full zebrafish and Fugu genomes are already available. Furthermore, there are ongoing national and international research activities focussing upon genome sequencing of the fish species involved in the present project. As soon as it becomes available, genomic information will be implemented into our project activities with the specific aim to expand knowledge concerning immune defence and the establishment of protective immunity.
In summary this project is innovative at three levels:
First, to our knowledge no previous attempts have been made to establish a similar trans-Spanish research collaboration among high quality scientists with a focus on several basic and applied aspects of fish critically directed towards the improvement of Aquaculture production focused on the three most important species in Spanish aquaculture. This will bring knowledge of aquaculture animals toward that enjoyed by warm-blooded husbandry animal species. Importantly this project will represent a strong knowledge platform for the Spanish aquaculture industry.
Secondly, the project includes a number of innovative scientific elements such as structural and functional characterisation of genes in the studied species. This will not only provide improved understanding of general fish biology, but potentially also contribute to a better functional biology in higher vertebrates, where complexity is higher and therefore more difficult to differentiate.
Thirdly, in applied terms, the project will provide new biotechnological tools, which are expected to be of high benefit for the Spanish and European aquaculture industry.