Francisellosis in fish is caused by the facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogens Francisella noatunensis ssp. noatunensis and Francisella orientalis. The disease is affecting both farmed and wild fish worldwide and no commercial vaccines are currently available. In this study, we tested isolated membrane vesicles (MVs) as possible vaccine candidates based on previous trials in zebrafish (Danio rerio) indicating promising vaccine efficacy. Here, the MV vaccine-candidates were tested in their natural hosts, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Injection of MVs did not display any toxicity or other negative influence on the fish and gene expression analysis indicated an influence on the host immune response. However, unlike in other tested fish species, a protective immunity following vaccine application and immunization period could not be detected in the Atlantic cod or tilapia. Further in vivo studies are required to achieve a better understanding of the development of immunological memory in different fish species.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in arctic lakes are recent phenomena. In our study, we performed a long-term analysis (1990–2017) of the eutrophication of Lake Imandra, a large subarctic lake, and explored the biodiversity of bloom-forming microorganisms of a 2017 summer HAB. We performed a 16Sr rRNA metabarcoding study of microbial communities, analysed the associations between N, P, C, and chlorophyll concentrations in the lake water, and developed models for the prediction of HABs based on total P concentration. We have demonstrated that blooms in Lake Imandra occur outside of optimal Redfield ratios and have a nonlinear association with P concentrations. We found that recent summer HABs in a lake occur as simultaneous blooms of a diatom Aulacoseira sp. and cyanobacteria Dolichospermum sp. We have studied the temporal dynamics of microbial communities during the bloom and performed an analysis of the publicly available Dolichospermum genomes to outline potential genetic mechanisms beneath simultaneous blooming. We found genetic traits requisite for diatom-diazotroph associations, which may lay beneath the simultaneous blooming of Aulacoseira sp. and Dolichospermum sp. in Lake Imandra. Both groups of organisms have the ability to store nutrients and form a dormant stage. All of these factors will ensure the further development of the HABs in Lake Imandra and the dispersal of these bloom-forming species to neighboring lakes.