Impact of a yeast cell wall fraction on gene expression patterns in Atlantic Salmon.

In this project we want to test the impact of a yeast cell wall fraction on gene expression patterns in Atlantic salmon. This cell wall component will be administered through intraperitoneal injection to Atlantic salmon in freshwater. Earlier studies on newly hatched chicks injected with this component has showed reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in the gut, and this suggests that it also might be successful in aquaculture species. The hypothesis is that this component will enhance the innate immune response of growing fish, and provide protection against parasitic infections. A standard commercial 7-component vaccine will be used in the project, together with the test component. Altogether maximum 400 Atlantic salmon is needed, 100 in each treatment group. To have 100 fish in each tank is also decided due to welfare issues, with good dynamics for the fish in the tanks. After the immunization period we will challenge the fish with Salmon lice to test the possible effect of the component with or without a commercial vaccine present. In this lice trial we will use 160 fish in total, 40 fish per group. We will use our quality insured salmon lice challenge model in this trial, and challenge as few fish with as few salmon lice as possible to get results to rely on statistically.