Our knowledge of β-glucan effects on invertebrate immunity is still limited.
However, more attention is being focused due to the ongoing importance of invertebrate
farming for agricultural and nutritional exploitation. Aquacultures of shrimp and
shellfish represent an important source of human nutrition and unprecedented growth of
aquaculture production in the past decade has caused an increased demand in the
prevention of infectious diseases among farmed animals. As a result, new ways to
improve the resistance and treatment of diseases are being researched.
Keywords: Invertebrates, glucan, cell wall, cancer, infection, MRM, shrimp, fish,
farming, aquaculture, lectins, bacteria, immunity, infection, nutrition, prevention,
hemolymph, molecule, defense, evolution.
