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Tuesday November 16, 2021

North Wales Chronicle

Keeping fish under constant light – often used by fish farms to enhance growth or control reproduction – disrupts these daily rhythms and leads to increased susceptibility to parasites.

This work, carried out by researchers at Bangor, Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities, published in the journal Microbiome, demonstrates how important understanding the ‘chronobiology’ of animals is for maintaining their health.

Lead author Dr Amy Ellison, a lecturer at Bangor University’s School of Natural Sciences, said: “Rainbow trout have daily or ‘circadian’ rhythms in their immune activity and these rhythms appear to shift the composition of the microbial communities which live on their skin over day-night cycles.

“These fish skin ‘microbiomes’ are a first line of defence against invading parasites and pathogens, so this could be very important for their health.

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