Flavobacterium 2015 Conference

Recipient Organization
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
108 M. WHITE SMITH HALL
AUBURN,AL 36849

Performing Department
Fisheries

Non Technical Summary
The 4th International Flavobacterium conference will take place Oct. 13-15 at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The proposed conference addresses an important cause of economic loss in aquaculture worldwide; for example, F. columnare causes columnaris disease ("fin-rot" or "cotton-mouth" disease), which is a major cause of annual losses among catfish producers. Because the genus Flavobacterium, is phylogenetically distant from well-studied fish pathogens, progress has lagged in researching possible cures or treatments, despite the economic importance of these diseases in aquaculture and a disturbing upward trend in the mortality of cultured fish. Since its inception, this conference has grown steadily; the most recent conference, in 2012, attracted 90 scientists from 21 countries. The organizing committee consists of scientists prominent in Flavobacterium research, including the "father of the genus," Jean-Francois Bernardet of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France. The conference objectives are:• Share information on pathogenicity, genetics, immunogenomics, physiology and biodiversity of members of this genus,• Foster collaboration among scientists working with these pathogens, and• Identify priority areas to control diseases caused by F. psychrophilum, F. columnare, and other fish-pathogenic species of this genus.

Animal Health Component

75%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

25%

Applied

75%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
311	0810	1100	100%

Knowledge Area
311 - Animal Diseases;

Subject Of Investigation
0810 - Finfish;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

conference

flavobacterium

Goals / Objectives
i)Share information on pathogenicity, genetics, immunogenomics, physiology and biodiversity of members of the genus Flavobacterium, ii)Foster collaboration among scientists working with these pathogens, and iii)Identify priority areas to control diseases caused by F. psychrophilum, F. columnare, and other fish-pathogenic species of this genus.

Project Methods
Proposed program: The conference will last three full days divided in several thematic sessions. Each session will have at least one invited speaker (*). Sessions will start with a 25 min presentation by the invited speaker followed by 15 min presentations selected from the submitted abstracts. The last session of the meeting is reserved for graduate student presentations. The proposed layout for the conference is:Tuesday Oct 13thWednesday Oct 14thThursday Oct 15th8:30-9:00IntroductionSession 4Session 79:00-9-30Key note speaker9:30-10:00Coffee break10:30-12:30Session 1Session 5Session 812:30-1:30Lunch break1:30-3:00Session 2Session 6Session 93:30-5:00Session 3Visit to Fisheries StationSession 10/Closing remarks

Progress 03/01/15 to 02/29/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Aquatic animal health experts Veterinarians Aquatic Animal Health companies Catfish industry Trout industry Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?More than 90 participants from the US and overseas institutiosn participated in the conference. Participants ranged from senior faculty/researchers to undergraduate students. Graduate students were given the opportunity to present their research to internationally recognized scientists in welcoming and non-intimidating atmosphere. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?All communications were compiled and printed in the meeting abstract book. A new Facebook group for the meeting was created to put in contact meeting participants with other interested audiences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The 4th International Conference on the Members of the Genus Flavobacterium took placed in Auburn, AL on Oct 27-29. More than 90 scientists from 14 countries around the world participated in the conference. There were 60 presentations (50 oral communications and 10 posters) that were divided into seven research topics from Biodiversity & Taxonomy to Vaccine and Mechanisms of Control. Participants had many opportunities for interacting and sharing ideas at formal (QA sessions after each talk) and informal (coffee breaks, lunch and dinners) settings. The last day of the meeting there was an round table to summarize the main findings of the conference and to identify priority areas for future research. Those include: - optimizing molecular tools to modify strains of Flavobacterium sp. - improve challenge protocols - develop effective vaccines against columnaris disease and BGD

Publications