Estudo da produção probiótica de espécies do genêro Bacillus em Pacus (Piaractus mesopotamicus)

Abstract

Piaractus mesopotamicus fish, popularly known as “Pacu”, has been one of the alternatives for Brazilian fish farming due to its rusticity, fast growth, and good quality meat. However, with the advancement of extensive fish farming, due to unscientific management practices such as unregulated drug use, high stock densities, and destructive fishing techniques, the likelihood of increased development of diseases in aquaculture industries has been increasingly present, making animals susceptible to a variety of lethal diseases caused by agents that may have bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic origins. Another alarming situation that arises from these events is the extensive use of antibiotics in order to contain and prevent epidemiological outbreaks, which end up creating selective pressure for the emergence of bacteria resistant to these drugs. Aiming to mitigate the effects generated, probiotics, which are compounds of bacterial origin extracted from the gastrointestinal tracts of the hosts themselves, have opened a window of solutions, since they are able to act efficiently in a wide range of actions, breaking down in relation to immunity of the fish, to the quality of the water in the nurseries. In recent years, many bacteria have been reported as potential probiotic candidates in fish farming sectors, in which the Bacillus species has been gaining special attention due to its protective activity and excellent adaptability. Having observed the aspects mentioned, this review sought to summarize recent advances in the research of probiotics in aquaculture and their impact on the health of fish of the species Piaractus mesopotamicus, in addition to raising the problems of extensive fish farming.