UK experts to lead development of all-in-one test for tilapia pathogens

UK aquaculture metagenomics specialist Esox Biologics is to lead an international consortium that will develop an affordable alternative to targeted pathogen detection to support tilapia farming in Ghana.

London-based Esox says that while almost all of the tilapia produced in the African country is consumed locally - making tilpia farming crucial for food security - robust and cost-effective methods for monitoring pathogens are lacking.

Traditional pathogen detection tools identify a single pathogen at a time, with costs scaling quickly with each pathogen screened for.

All pathogens at once

“By analysing the total microbiome with metagenomics, rather than targeting individual pathogens, our consortium aims to establish a metagenomics assay specifically for tilapia farms, so that producers can identify all tilapia pathogens from a single sample of water,” Esox writes on LinkedIn.

“The successful implementation of this technology will significantly reduce the number of samples required to detect the pathogens that routinely affect tilapia production.”

Esox has won the financial support of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for the project. It is collaborating with Francisco Murillo, chief executive of Tropo Farms Ltd., Ghana’s largest tilapia farm, and Ulisses Pereira of State University of Londrina in Brazil. Tropo Farms expected to produce 15,000 tonnes of fish last year and is aiming to double that by 2030. 

Increased performance

Murillo believes tilapia farming is essential if aquaculture is to sustain a growing population and thinks total microbiome analysis is one of the many areas that will support this vital sector.

“The FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation) estimates that Africa must increase aquaculture production by 74% by 2050 to maintain current consumption per capita,” said the Tropo Farms CEO.

“We believe focusing on fish welfare will increase our production performance, which is why we’re excited to join this consortium and help to develop a tool that will improve tilapia welfare by enhancing our pathogen detection efforts.”

UK Government funding

The project is supported by the Climate Smart Agriculture Partnership: UK-Brazil-Africa, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and delivered by state research funder Innovate UK. The Partnership is supporting projects with up to £1.5 million in funding, at up to £100,000 per project.

Earlier this year, Innovate UK also made a grant of £471,067 for a project led by Esox to design a framework to link aquatic DNA with disease monitoring. It is part of a wider UK Government project to develop 11 regulatory science and innovation networks.