Avner's Lab
We are interested in fish!
Our group studies the biology of cultured fish species, focusing on their response and adaptation to environmental stress.
About
Established on January 2008, our lab is affiliated with the Department of Poultry and Aquaculture, within the Institute of Animal Science, The Agricultural Research Organization.
We are located at the main campus of the Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion.
Vision
We seek to explore uncharacterized areas in the biology of fish, in order to better understand their unique characteristics and to advance the fields of aquaculture, fisheries, and conservation.
Funding
Our research is supported by various sources of funding:
-
NSF-BSF (National Science Foundation and Binational Science Foundation).
-
BARD (US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund).
-
The Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development.
-
ISF (Israel Science Foundation).
-
Israeli-French High Council for Scientific & Technological Research.
News
July 2, 2024
Avner gave an oral presentations in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Prague, The Czech Republic.
June 16, 2024
A paper with Dietmar Kültz lab, "Transcriptional up-regulation of the myo-inositol biosynthesis pathway is enhanced by NFAT5 in hyperosmotically stressed tilapia cells", was accepted for publication in Am J Physiol - Cell Physiol.
June 4, 2024
A paper with Wilfried Haerty lab, "Ancient and recent hybridization in the Oreochromis cichlid fishes", was accepted for publication in Mol. Biol. Evol.
March 19, 2024
A paper with Dietmar Kültz lab, "Effects of CRISPR/Cas9 targeting of the myo-inositol biosynthesis pathway on hyper-osmotic tolerance of tilapia cells", was accepted for publication in Genomics.
January 4, 2024
Pazit's paper "Cell-based homologous expression system for in-vitro characterization of environmental effects on transmembrane peptide transport in fish." was accepted for publication in Curr. Res. Physiol.
July 6, 2023
Avner gave an oral presentations in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Edinburgh, Scotland.
June 29, 2023
A paper with Dietmar Kültz lab, "Removal of evolutionarily conserved functional MYC domains in a tilapia cell line using a vector-based CRISPR/Cas9 system", was accepted for publication in Sci. Rep.
May 7, 2023
Pazit's thesis has been approved and she was awarded the Ph.D. degree.
December 29, 2022
A paper with Ewen McLean, "Hematological response of juvenile cobia to three anesthetics", was accepted for publication in Fishes.
December 5, 2022
A paper with Wilfried Haerty lab, "Chromosome-level genome sequence of the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT, Oreochromis niloticus) highlights regions of introgression with O. mossambicus", was accepted for publication in BMC Genomics.
September 9, 2022
Avner gave an oral presentations in the Cichlid Science conference. Cambridge, UK.
July 27, 2022
We have received an ISF grant, "The central homeostatic regulation of thermal metabolic response in teleosts".
July 7-8, 2022
Avner gave two oral presentations in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Montpellier, France.
June 29, 2022
We have received an NSF-BSF grant, "Control of molecular, cellular, and organismal phenotypes by the transcription factor NFAT5", with Dietmar Kültz, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
June 29, 2022
Pazit and Avner gave oral presentations in the 14th International Congress on the Biology of Fish. Montpellier, France.
May 6, 2022
Aurora gave an oral presentation in the 6th International Symposium on Genomics in Aquaculture. Grenada, Spain.
January 17, 2022
Our paper "How does temperature affect aggression during and after dominance hierarchy formation in Nile tilapia?" was accepted for publication in Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
October 20, 2021
Aurora's paper "Different transcriptomic architecture of the gill epithelia in Nile and Mozambique tilapia after salinity challenge" was accepted for publication in Comp. Biochem. Physiol. D Genomics Proteomics.
August 16, 2021
The CRISPR Journal chose our paper for the cover of the August 2021 issue.
July 24, 2021
Our paper with Kobi Biran lab, "Genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 system to generate a solid-red germlines of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)", was accepted for publication in CRISPR J.
July 14, 2021
Aurora's paper with Larken Root from Dietmar Kültz lab, "Nonlinear effects of environmental salinity on the gill transcriptome versus proteome of Oreochromis niloticus modulate epithelial cell turnover", was accepted for publication in Genomics.
June 2, 2021
We have received a grant from BARD, "Elucidating and manipulating regulatory elements of the tilapia physiological response to extreme temperatures", with Dietmar Kültz, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
June 1, 2021
Our paper with Dietmar Kültz lab, "A data-independent acquisition (DIA) assay library for quantitation of environmental effects on the kidney proteome of Oreochromis niloticus", was accepted for publication in Mol. Ecol. Res.
May 7, 2021
Aurora gave an oral presentation, "Different transcriptomic strategies to cope with salinity challenge in Nile and Mozambique tilapias", in the online International Symposium on Genomics in Aquaculture.
January 14, 2021
Pazit's paper "Water salinity and postprandial effects on transcription of peptide and amino acid transporters in the kidney of Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)" was accepted for publication in Aquaculture.
May 11, 2020
Fotini's paper "Antibiotic effect and microbiome persistence vary along the European seabass gut" was accepted for publication in Sci. Rep.
August 12, 2019
Fotini's paper "Core gut microbial communities are maintained by beneficial interactions and strain variability in fish" was accepted for publication in Nat. Microbiol.
August 6, 2019
Pazit gave an oral presentation, "Peptide transporters in the primary gastrointestinal tract of the pre-feeding Mozambique tilapia larva", in the 10th International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. Ottawa, Canada.
August 5, 2019
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Selection for cold tolerance revealed differential physiological and microbiome composition between tolerant and sensitive blue tilapia", in the 10th International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. Ottawa, Canada.
July 4, 2019
Pazit gave an oral presentation, "Peptide transporters in the primary gastrointestinal tract of the pre-feeding Mozambique tilapia larva", in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Seville, Spain.
July 2, 2019
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Genetic selection for cold tolerance shapes the tilapia physiological response to low temperature and modulates its microbiome composition", in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Seville, Spain.
June 6, 2019
Pazit's paper "Peptide transporters in the primary gastrointestinal tract of the pre-feeding Mozambique tilapia larva" was accepted for publication in Front. Physiol.
June 6, 2019
We have received a grant from BARD, "Utilization of fish processing waste enriched by fermentation in aquafeeds for fish of importance to Israel and USA", with Konrad Dabrowski, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
January 29, 2019
Tali's paper "Transcriptome analysis reveals common and differential response to low temperature exposure between tolerant and sensitive blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)" was accepted for publication in Front. Genet.
January 14, 2019
Fotini's and Pazit's paper "Short- and long-term low-salinity acclimation effects on the branchial and intestinal gene expression in the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)" was accepted for publication in Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Mol. Integr. Physiol.
November 20, 2018
Fotini's eLife paper was highlighted in ScienceDaily: "Tropical fish adapt to cold temperatures in coordination with their microbiome." www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181120125843.htm
November 6, 2018
Fotini's paper "Host genetic selection for cold tolerance shapes microbiome composition and modulates its response to temperature" was accepted for publication in eLife.
August 1, 2018
Eyal's paper "Dietary salt levels affect digestibility, intestinal gene expression, and the microbiome, in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)" was accepted for publication in PLoS ONE.
July 19, 2018
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Genetics, genomics and microbiomics, underlying cold tolerance in the blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)", in the 13th International Symposium on Genetics in Aquaculture, Cairns, Australia.
March 23, 2018
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Cold tolerance in the blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)", in the 5th International Symposium on Genomics in Aquaculture, Albufeira, Portugal.
January 11, 2018
Tapan's paper "Effects of the acclimation to high salinity on intestinal ion and peptide transporters in two tilapia species differing in their salinity tolerance" was accepted for publication in Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A Mol. Integr. Physiol.
July 6, 2017
Fotini gave an oral presentation, "Tilapia gut microbiome in response to temperature and cold adaptation", in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Gothenburg, Sweden.
May 24, 2017
Pazit received a BARD graduate student fellowship to work in the Kueltz lab at University of California - Davis, on "Development of an in-vitro research system to study peptide absorption in tilapia".
April 4, 2017
We have received an NSF-BSF grant, "Biochemical and genetic basis of salinity tolerance in tilapia", with Dietmar Kültz, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
January 18, 2017
Ynon defended his M.Sc. thesis, "Gnotobiotic Mozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus) as a research tool for nutritional studies in fish".
January 5, 2017
Pazit's paper "Salinity dependent shift in the localization of three peptide transporters along the intestine of the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)" was accepted for publication in Front. Physiol.
December 9, 2016
Avner gave an oral presentation, "From genomics to physiology: Intestinal salinity adaptation in tilapia", in the Symposium on Fish Stress, Montpellier, France.
November 1, 2016
Eyal defended his M.Sc. thesis, "Research parameters affecting food digestibility in Nile tilapia (O. niloticus)".
September 19, 2016
Pazit received a scholarship for excellence, from the Agricultural Research Organization.
September 13, 2016
Tali's paper "Maternal effects in the inheritance of cold tolerance in blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)" was accepted for publication in Env. Biol. Fish.
July 6, 2016
Fotini gave an oral presentation, "Microbial communities along the fish gastrointestinal tract are associated with various physiological parameters", in the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting. Brighton, UK.
June 14, 2016
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Genetic aspects of tilapia's cold tolerance", in the 12th International Congress on the Biology of Fish, San Marcos, TX, USA.
April 22, 2016
Fotini gave an oral presentation, "Distribution and composition of microbial communities along the fish gastrointestinal tract are associated with various physiological parameters", in the 4th International Symposium on Genomics in Aquaculture, Athens, Greece.
January 23, 2016
Tali's and Pazit's paper "Differential expression of amino acid transporters along the intestine of Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and the effect of water salinity and time after feeding" was accepted for publication in Aquaculture.
September 10, 2015
Pazit defended her M.Sc. thesis, "Environmental influence and characterization of the peptide transporter system in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)", and completed her degree with the highest distinction!
September 6, 2015
Dana defended her M.Sc. thesis, "A comparative transcriptome analysis of the intestinal salinity adaptation of Oreochromis niloticus and O. mossambicus", and did it with distinction!
June 25, 2015
Avner gave an oral presentation, "From tilapia's comparative transcriptome analysis to characterization of nutrient transpoerters", in the 12th International Symposium on Genetics in Aquaculture (ISGA XII), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
May 21, 2015
Fotini won a prize for her poster presented in the BARD Workshop on Microbial Eco-Genomics in Agriculture, Kibbutz Hagoshrim, Israel.
May 20, 2015
We have received a grant from BARD, "Optimization of tilapia nutrition by understanding the mechanistic basis of amino-acid/peptide transport in their gut", with Dietmar Kültz, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
March 1, 2015
Ariel's paper "Association between polymorphism in the Prolactin I promoter and growth of tilapia in saline-water" was accepted for publication in Aquacult. Rep.
February 18, 2015
Fotini presented her work, "Niche specific microbiome across a carnivorous fish gastrointestinal tract", in the annual meeting of the Israeli Society for Microbiology (ISM).
January 19, 2015
Dana's paper "Intestinal transcriptome analysis revealed differential salinity adaptation between two tilapiine species" was accepted for publication in Comp. Biochem. Physiol. D Genomics Proteomics.
December 16, 2014
We have recieved a grant from the program Maimonide-Israel, "Characterization of the negative impacts of salinity stress on tilapia growth", with a group led by Helena D'Cotta, CIRAD, Montpellier, France.
October 7, 2014
Avner gave an oral presentation, "From comparative intestinal transcriptome analysis to characterization of transporters linking nutrient absorption and ion and acid-base regulation", in the American Physiological Society (APS) Intersociety Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA.
August 7, 2014
Pazit gave an oral presentation, "Characterization of peptide transporter systems in the intestine of Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus)", in the 11th International Congress on the Biology of Fish, Edinburgh, Scotland.
August 7, 2014
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Tilapia’s salinity adaptation – from comparative transcriptome analysis to novel genes characterization", in the 11th International Congress on the Biology of Fish, Edinburgh, Scotland.
August 4, 2014
Avner gave an oral presentation, "Adaptation of two marine species, gray mullet (Mugil cephalus) and white grouper (Epinephelus aeneus), for culture in inland water", in the 11th International Congress on the Biology of Fish, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Events
Coming
The Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting.
Prague, The Czech Republic. July 2-5, 2024.
Past
The 14th International Congress on the Biology of Fish.
Montpellier, France. June 28 - July 1, 2022.
Avner Cnaani and Helena D'Cotta organized the 'Environmental Physiology of cichlids' symposium.
The 11th International Congress on the Biology of Fish.
Edinburgh, Scotland. August 3-7, 2014.
Avner Cnaani and Elena Sarropoulou organized the 'Physiological Genomics' symposium.
An international workshop, 'Perspectives in Endocrinology of Cichlids'.
Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud, Israel. October 3-6, 2013.
Avner Cnaani, Berta Levavi-Sivan, Darren Lerner, and Andre Seale organized the workshop, funded by The US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD).
