Progress and limitations of dsRNA strategies in the control of viral diseases in aquaculture

Abstract

The development of a sustainable aquaculture is consistent with a growing demand for new methods to ensure the health of various aquatic species. Among them, the use of revolutionary therapies based on double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) has opened a wide range of possibilities in the progress of the control strategies and disease prevention. The system of gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) has an interesting potential for the control of infectious diseases in aquaculture systems. On the other side, it has been found that dsRNA can have a significant immunomodulatory effect in fish cells, activating innate immune defense mechanisms. The definition of a suitable delivery system to ensure the entry of dsRNA to the target cell has results in moderately successful assays. However, the delivery of dsRNA to ensure the entry to the organism in its natural habitat is the main difficulty of this technology. This work presents a comprehensive review of potential post-transcriptional silencing by dsRNA as antiviral strategy in fish farming and its potential use as an immunostimulant, emphasizing the need to seek methodologies to deliver dsRNA into the target organism, considering the limitations and characteristics of a system of intensive farming.