WG2 Drivers underlying the dynamic of zoosporic diseases
Aims
Although zoosporic parasite infections are common and widespread, relatively little is known about the environmental drivers of their infection success. WG2 aims at elucidating these drivers for a better understanding of zoosporic parasite ecology and functional traits and how zoosporic parasite infections will respond to future climate and land use patterns.
Ultimately, WG2 aims at operationalising this knowledge in an azoospermic infection risk assessment tool for algal biotech and water managers. WG2 will complement the WG1 Observatory with data on ecological and functional traits of zoosporic parasites, moving the observatory towards a curated DNA sequence reference database.
Activities
- Sessions at (inter-)national conferences to promote general awareness about aquatic zoosporic parasites within the scientific community.
- Training School on isolation and characterisation of zoosporic parasite strains.
- Reciprocal STSMs among academia, industry and water management to run experiment to elucidate parasites drivers under different conditions in natural ecosystems and algal biotech production.
Deliverables
- Review article(s) on the environmental drivers of zoosporic parasite infection, and the potential of rapid evolution leading to shifts in host-parasite interactions.
- Fact sheets explaining key environmental drivers (abiotic and biotic) involved in zoosporic parasite infections.
- Conference on zoosporic parasites, their role in food webs, and responses to (changing) environmental drivers, targeted at aquatic scientists, micro-algae industry RD&I, and water managers.
- Public events and press communications to inform the public on positive and negative effects of parasites.
- Complementing the online catalogue (WG1) with ecological and functional traits of zoosporic parasites.