Bacteriophages as biocontrol agents of bacterial contaminants of bivalves and their microalgal feeds

Tuan Son Le; İpek Kurtböke

doi:10.1071/MA25021

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Bacteriophages as biocontrol agents of bacterial contaminants of bivalves and their microalgal feeds

Tuan Son Le ^A ^B and İpek Kurtböke ^A ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Qld 4558, Australia.

^B Research Institute for Marine Fisheries, 224 Le Lai, Ngo Quyen, Hai Phong 180000, Vietnam. Email: letuanson1987@gmail.com

Tuan Son Le is currently employed at Tréidlia Biovet, Sydney, and at the Research Institute for Marine Fisheries (Vietnam). He obtained his Bachelor of Environmental Science degree in 2009 from the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, and Master of Fisheries Sciences degree in 2012 at the Pukyong National University in the Republic of Korea. He received a PhD in microbiology in 2019 from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld, where he investigated the use of bacteriophages to control bacterial diseases in aquaculture.

Assoc. Prof. İpek Kurtböke has been working in the field of biodiscovery and has been an active member of the international actinomycete research community since 1982. She currently conducts research and teaches in the field of applied microbiology and biotechnology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld. She has also been an active member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) and currently is the President of the Federation. She was also the Editorial Board member of Microbiology Australia for 21 years (2004–24).

^* Correspondence to: ikurtbok@usc.edu.au

Microbiology Australia https://doi.org/10.1071/MA25021

Submitted: 9 April 2025 Accepted: 4 May 2025 Published: 26 May 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

A FAO 2024 report¹ noted that aquaculture production worldwide has excelled, and aquaculture produced surpassed captured fish resulting in an increase of 4.4% in 2022 compared to 2020. Production comprised 185.4 × 10⁶ tonnes of aquatic animals and 37.8 × 10⁶ tonnes of algae, which is also used as feed in the industry. These figures indicate that aquaculture production will continue to expand and will be one of the fastest growing sectors for food-production into coming decades. Bivalve molluscs will likely remain a major component of this production. However, the microbial infestation of bivalves and their microalgal feeds and subsequent disease occurrences are of significant concern. This article highlights the use of bacteriophages to eliminate pathogenic bacterial species in environments where bivalves are cultivated so they can be protected from bacterial diseases.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, aquaculture diseases, bacteriophage, biocontrol, bivalves, sustainable aquaculture, Vibrio infections of molluscs.

Biographies

Tuan Son Le is currently employed at Tréidlia Biovet, Sydney, and at the Research Institute for Marine Fisheries (Vietnam). He obtained his Bachelor of Environmental Science degree in 2009 from the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, and Master of Fisheries Sciences degree in 2012 at the Pukyong National University in the Republic of Korea. He received a PhD in microbiology in 2019 from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld, where he investigated the use of bacteriophages to control bacterial diseases in aquaculture.

Assoc. Prof. İpek Kurtböke has been working in the field of biodiscovery and has been an active member of the international actinomycete research community since 1982. She currently conducts research and teaches in the field of applied microbiology and biotechnology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld. She has also been an active member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) and currently is the President of the Federation. She was also the Editorial Board member of Microbiology Australia for 21 years (2004–24).

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