The Faculty of Biology will host this summer the eleventh edition of the congress of the Iberian Association of Comparative Endocrinology, an international meeting of scientists specialized in the study of the endocrine systems of animals, both in vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, etc.) and invertebrates (insects, molluscs, crustaceans, etc.). The event is coordinated by Professor José Luis Soengas, director of the Fish Physiology Laboratory and researcher at the ECIMAT Marine Research Center, who explains that the main sectors in which the studies of this scientific branch affect are all those related to animal production, especially fish aquaculture, which is the field in which most research groups, both in Spain and Portugal, related to these issues, work.
The congress will be held from 13 to 15 July and will be attended by around a hundred specialists who will present the most recent research that has been achieved in this field, both from universities and research centres, through the presentation of multiple communications, both oral and in poster format. “In addition, there will also be three plenary sessions and three other ‘state of the art’ reports in which renowned specialists will update attendees on specific topics”, explains the president of the organising committee, who also points out that the official language of the congress is English, “which favours the presentation of communications by foreign researchers”.
“All life processes in animals are regulated in one way or another by hormones”
The team of organizers of the congress, which also includes the dean of the Faculty of Biology, Jesús Míguez, and the head of Environmental Quality at Ecimat, Antonio Villanueva, explain that endocrinology is the part of animal physiology that is responsible for the study of hormones. “Animals have different hormones organized in what we know as the endocrine system that are, together with the nervous system, their main regulatory mechanism”, explains Soengas, who emphasizes that hormones/endocrine system participate in the regulation of metabolism, growth, reproduction, osmoregulation… “Practically all vital processes in animals are regulated in one way or another by hormones”, emphasizes the researcher, to which he adds that the first animals in which their endocrine systems were studied were mammals, including the human species “and that is what endocrinology in general is responsible for, with all its medical implications”, emphasizes the researcher.
Research aimed at improving the procedures used in the aquaculture industry
In the case of comparative endocrinology, delving into the functioning of the different endocrine systems of an animal allows us to know and optimize the different processes that occur in it in order to optimize its cultivation or production, “from making it grow more or make better use of food to reproducing at a certain time”, explains the coordinator of the congress. Along these lines, Soengas highlights that the different groups of animals studied in comparative physiology are very important in the field of animal production, especially in aquaculture, and within it the production of: fish (both freshwater such as trout, carp or tilapia, and seawater, in the case of turbot, bream, sea bass, etc.); molluscs (clams, oysters, etc.); crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, etc.), and also in poultry farming (different birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc.), etc.
“In Spain and Portugal, most research groups related to comparative endocrinology, including our laboratory, work in the field of fish aquaculture, addressing endocrine systems involved in the control of growth, reproduction, metabolism, stress response, pigmentation, feeding, ionic regulation, etc.”, explains the person responsible for the congress, while referring to the fact that knowledge of the endocrine mechanisms involved in the regulation of these processes allows improving the procedures used in the aquaculture industry.
Half of the fish consumed in the Iberian Peninsula comes from aquaculture
From the Animal Physiology Laboratory, they explain that aquaculture is today the economic activity with the greatest projection in the field of animal production, contributing to generating products of great commercial value and responding to new challenges of society, such as improving the sustainability of natural resources and obtaining healthy and safe foods. “As predicted by the FAO, due to the progressive reduction of traditional extractive fishing, aquaculture is the only possibility of providing, in a sustainable way, fish for human food and currently accounts for approximately half of the fish for human consumption”, explains Soengas, who emphasizes the fact that the strong relationship between comparative endocrinology and aquaculture in Spain and Portugal means that the congress is co-organized by the Singular Center for Marine Research – ECIMAT of the University of Vigo which has within its structure a Marine Cultures unit to which his group belongs.
Source: duvi
