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Biofloc Microbiome With Bioremediation and Health Benefits

Frontiers in Microbiology 2021 83 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 55 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Vikash Kumar, Suvra Roy, Bijay Kumar Behera, Himanshu Sekhar Swain, Basanta Kumar Das

Summary

Researchers reviewed the biofloc system, an aquaculture technology in which heterotrophic microbial communities form aggregates that naturally treat water and serve as a supplemental food source for farmed aquatic animals. The microbial communities in biofloc systems help maintain water quality by consuming nutrient waste while also boosting the growth, immunity, and disease resistance of the host organisms. The review highlights biofloc technology as a sustainable, cost-effective approach to aquaculture that reduces the need for water exchange and artificial feeding.

Body Systems

The biofloc system has recently attracted great attention as a cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly technology and expected to contribute toward human food security (Zero Hunger SDG 2). It is also expected that this endeavor can be adopted widely because of its characteristics of zero water exchange and reduced artificial feeding features. In the biofloc system, the flocs which are generally formed by aggregation of heterotrophic microorganisms, serve as natural bioremediation candidates. These microbes effectively maintain water quality by utilizing the nutrient wastes, mostly originated from digested, unconsumed, and metabolic processes of feed. Additionally, the flocs are important sources of nutrients, mainly a protein source, and when these are consumed by aquaculture animals they improve the growth performance, immunity, and disease tolerance of host against pathogenic microbial infection. Here in this review, we focus on recent advances that could provide a mechanistic insight on how the microbial community developed in the biofloc system helps in the bioremediation process and enhances the overall health of the host. We have also tried to address the possible role of these microbial communities against growth and virulence of pathogenic microbes.

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