Michael Kent
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Professor, Microbiology Director, Center for Fish Disease |
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Education
Ph.D. 1985, University of California, DavisResearch
Our laboratory studies diseases of importance to wild and cultured fishes. See Center for Fish Disease. Current research topics include molecular systematics of myxozoan pathogens, development of drugs for these pathogens, and investigations on new or emerging diseases of fish in general. Pertaining to the latter, we are investigating diseases of importance to zebrafish. This fish species has become a very important animal in genetic and embryology research, which has lead to the development of zebrafish colonies and research programs at several universities. However, until recently, there has been essentially no research conducted on understanding the real and potential health problems that may afflict fish held in these research colonies. This research is supported by NIH and is conducted in collaboration with the NIH Zebrafish International Resource Center, University of Oregon. We are also investigating diseases of opakapaka; a deep-water snapper being developed for aquaculture in HawaiiAnother research interest is diseases and pathogens affecting wild fishes in the Pacific region. Presently we are investigating Ichthyophonus (a fungus-like) parasite that is suspected to cause high mortality in adult chinook salmon in the Yukon River. We are studying the pathological and physiological affects of transcontinental air pollution on salmonid fishes in high mountain lakes in U.S. National Parks. This study is part of the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project (WACAP)
We are also investigating the association of pathogens with skeletal lesions found in cyprinid fishes in the Willamette River
The use of molecular systematics has become fundamental in taxonomy and phylogenetic studies of parasites. Furthermore, these sequences have been used to develop extremely sensitive diagnostic tests. We are using these approaches with several microsporidian and myxozoan pathogens of fishes. For example, we are studying the relationship of Kudoa thyrsites from fishes around the world. This cosmopolitan myxozoan infects many fish species, and thus it may actually represent an assemblage of morphologically indistinguishable species or strains.