Host–Parasite Interactions in Fishes

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture activity has increased and can offer a solution to the increased demand for meat. However, this activity presents challenges, such as the diversity of pathogens affecting fish farming. Thus, understanding the mechanism associated with parasite–host interactions is crucial to identify sustainable farming solutions. During an infective process, the host activates different defense mechanisms to avoid an infection. Furthermore, different susceptible levels can be observed in a group of hosts. That can be associated with their physiology, behavior, mucosa composition, immune response, etc. Moreover, the parasite can trigger changes in its infective mechanism to a successful parasitize. 

Nowadays, omics tools allow for establishing a global vision to understand the molecular process involved in host–parasite interactions, and their application has been increasing in fish studies. Furthermore, it allows us to evaluate the host or parasite adaptation mechanism in response to different treatments. For instance, transcriptomics allows expression profiles in both organisms during the infection to identify molecules associated with the interaction process. In addition, the non-coding RNA (miRNA, lncRNA, etc.) has important roles during gene expression in response to infections. The application of epigenetics studies can describe a host or parasite's genome behavior during the parasite infection. All this knowledge allows new prevention strategies and treatment regimens for the fish industry.

This Special Issue welcomes papers on the genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics of host–parasite interactions in fishes. Manuscripts focusing on high-throughput methodologies will be appreciated.

Dr. Valentina Valenzuela-Muñoz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• fishes
• parasite
• immunity
• transcriptomic
• epigenomic
• genomics