Shrimp is a commercially important species in several regions and is among the key global aquaculture commodities essential for food production and security. Similar to most shrimp‐producing countries, shrimp aquaculture in Malaysia suffers from recurring disease outbreaks that consequently impact the overall economy. The use of antimicrobial agents, particularly antibiotics, in shrimp aquaculture for prophylactic treatment and growth enhancement has increased the spread of antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria in the aquatic environment. The development and dissemination of antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria and other potential sources of antimicrobial contamination in waterways are facilitated by the continuous application of antibiotics in shrimp farming, municipalities, livestock, hospitals and pharmaceutical sources. This situation contributes to the spread of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenomenon, a One Health issue with detrimental effects on human and animal health as well as the environment. Addressing the risks associated with AMR dissemination remains highly challenging due to the intensification of shrimp farming trends, which heightens disease outbreaks, and the limited availability of alternatives to antibiotics for many farmers seeking to prevent crop failure. In this review, we critically examine the key issues related to AMR in shrimp aquaculture and explore emerging treatment strategies. Our analysis encompasses a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the impact of AMR on shrimp farming in Malaysia, as well as alternative mitigation strategies aimed at fostering more sustainable and resilient aquaculture practices.

In the past decade, shrimp farms, particularly those established in Asia, Mexico and South America suffered from the outbreak of an emergent penaeid shrimp disease known as Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHNPD). The PirA and PirB toxins produced by plasmid pVA1 inVibrio parahaemolyticuswere reported to cause the AHPND pathology. More recent research demonstrated thatV. parahaemolyticusis not the only species that can cause AHPND, as otherVibriospecies were also found to contain PirAB-containing plasmid. The present study assessed the Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) of AHPND that transforms genes (pirAandpirB) from AHPND positiveV. parahaemolyticusto non-AHPND and non-vibrio species identified asAlgoriphagussp. strain NBP. The HGT ofpirAandpirBgenes from the AHPND positiveV. parahaemolyticustoAlgoriphagussp. strain NBP was found to occur at different temperatures. The conjugation efficiency rate (n°) ofpirABfromV. parahaemolyticustoAlgoriphagussp. strain NBP at 30°C and 40°C showed 80-91% efficiency. Shrimp challenged with thepirAandpirBpositiveAlgoriphagussp. strain NBP also demonstrated typical pathognomonic AHPND lesions during the histopathologic examination.Author summary: AHPND is a significant threat to the shrimp industry leading to high losses. The results demonstrated that the conjugative transfer of thepirAandpirBpositiveV. parahaemolyticus(donor strain) to a non-Vibrioand non-pathogenic bacterium (recipient strain), successfully transformed the non-pathogenic bacterium into a disease-causing strain with a disease-causing capability similar to the donor strain. Initially,V. parahaemolyticusthat express the PirA and PirB toxins which encoded by a conjugative plasmid cause sloughing and degeneration of shrimp hepatopancreatic.

Marinobacter is a genus belonging to the class Gammaproteobacteria and the family Alteromonadaceae. This genus is a Gram-negative bacterium which can be found in a wide range of marine and saline water environments. Here, we present the genome sequence of Marinobacter sp. strain CA1 that was isolated from the indigenous diatom found in the whiteleg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei (Bonne 1931) pond in Malaysia. Genome sequencing was done using Pacbio and Illumina sequencing platforms. De novo hybrid assembly based on Pacbio long reads and high quality Illumina short reads yielded a complete circular chromosome with 4.7 M base pair (bp) in size. This genome was submitted to Genbank, NCBI database and can be accessed under accession number: NZ_CP071785 and the BioProject acession number PRJNA710741. This data could be useful for other studies on microalgae and bacteria interaction, and comparative genomics analysis of other Marinobacter species.

The dataset demonstrates the efficacy of Aqua Ectogon-284, a zinc chelates of glycine, as a dietary supplement to enhance growth and survival in hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × E. lanceolatus ♂) and whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei). Two concentrations (1g/kg feed and 2g/kg feed) were evaluated against a control group to identify an optimal dosage that maximizes growth and health outcomes. Both the species exhibited improved growth performance and survival rates with dietary supplementation. The hybrid grouper fed a 1g/kg diet achieved the highest final weight of 100.00 g, with significant increases in length and survival rates of 96.00%. Similarly, whiteleg shrimp demonstrated enhanced final weights and survival (94.67%) with the same treatment. These findings revealed that zinc chelate glycine increased the growth rate and reduced mortality in farmed species.