Prof. Dr. R. Dinakaran Michael [631500]

Prof. Dr. R. Dinakaran Michael

Research Interest

The main areas of our research interest include developing environment -friendly prophylactic
and therapeutic immunostimulants from terrestrial and marine plants for culture fish. Another
area is heavy metal -induced immunosuppression in fish and this aspect has relevance to
extensive cultures in large water bodies which are more often receive polluted waters form rivers
and canals which are polluted by industrial effl uents. Stress -induced immunomodulation due to
social stressors (e.g crowding, monosex cultures) is another priority area of research in this
centre.
___________________________________________________
Plant -derived immunostimulants
Aquaculture faces subs tantial annual loss of production due to diseases. Antibiotics and chemo –
therapeutic agents are being used to control microbial diseases in aquaculture systems.
These agents are not only expensive, they are also environmental pollutants. Further,
they offen result in the development of antibiotic resistant strains of microbes. In this context,
terrestrial and marine plant -derived, immunostimulating compounds offer promising results
due to its broad spectral activity and cost-effectiveness. India has been bestowed with
enormous wealth of traditional terrestrial medicinal plants and marine plants. Hence the
centre aims at studying the immunostimulatory and antibacterial properties of these plants’
extracts in fish for developing the processes and the products for wider application of them
as immunoprophylactics and therapeutics in aquaculture in this country
Heavy metal induced immunomodulation
Aquatic environment of fish is in close contac t with numerous pollutants. Aquatic pollutants
such as heavy metals modulate (most of them suppress) the immune system of fish, thus
increasing the host susceptibility to infectious pathogens. So, one of the aims of the centre
is to inv estigate the effect of heavy metals such as chromium, cadmium, mercury and
other common pollutants on the immune status of fish. This assessment of the immune status
of fish is not only helpful as the source of basic immunotoxicological info rmation but also as
immuno -indicators for monitoring fish health in extensive fish cultures in large lakes and ponds.

Stress -induced immunomodulation
Intensive aquaculture practices where culture fish is usually over crowded often result in
stress -mediated immunosuppression in fish, leading to sudden outbreak of fish diseases.
This laboratory aims at finding the mechanism behind stress –mediated immunosuppression in
fish. Another related area of interest is the effect of complex socia l interactions among
the culture fish communities (all male, all female or mixed population) on the immune
system of fish. This approach can help fish farmers to device species -friendly management
practices thereby preventing heavy loss du e to outbreak of diseases.