An SEM Study of Blastodinium Parasitism of Estuarine Calanoid Copepods: Impact on Mankind
Location
Culp Ballroom
Start Date
4-7-2022 9:00 AM
End Date
4-7-2022 12:00 PM
Poster Number
59
Faculty Sponsor’s Department
Biomedical Sciences
Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor
Stan Kunigelis
Competition Type
Competitive
Type
Poster Presentation
Project's Category
Parasitology
Abstract or Artist's Statement
Blastodinium, a genus of the phytoplanktonic dinoflagellates, was found to be inhabiting the gut region of the copepod species Labidocera. Copepods are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, being the most numerous multicellular organisms on planet earth. Being primary consumers, they play important ecological roles, passing energy from one trophic level to the next. As zooplankton, estuarine copepods contribute substantially to carbon cycling as they undergo diurnal migration to avoid daylight UV-B damage and surface water predation. Blastodinium are presumed to infect copepods via ingestion of zoospores by juvenile hosts, who function as microhabitats for acquiring nutrients in non-photosynthetic species or in nutrient-limited environments. Blastodinium may hinder reproduction of copepod hosts, thereby influencing local copepod populations and, by extension, food webs up to humanity. Copepod populations may also help contain disease spread, such as malaria and Dengue fever, through their consumption of mosquito larvae in standing water. Further evaluation of copepods for Blastodinium may help shed light on the limited knowledge of this species and the nature of its relationship with copepods, as well as its effects on copepod populations and the higher order consequences of its parasitism.
An SEM Study of Blastodinium Parasitism of Estuarine Calanoid Copepods: Impact on Mankind
Culp Ballroom
Blastodinium, a genus of the phytoplanktonic dinoflagellates, was found to be inhabiting the gut region of the copepod species Labidocera. Copepods are ubiquitous in aquatic environments, being the most numerous multicellular organisms on planet earth. Being primary consumers, they play important ecological roles, passing energy from one trophic level to the next. As zooplankton, estuarine copepods contribute substantially to carbon cycling as they undergo diurnal migration to avoid daylight UV-B damage and surface water predation. Blastodinium are presumed to infect copepods via ingestion of zoospores by juvenile hosts, who function as microhabitats for acquiring nutrients in non-photosynthetic species or in nutrient-limited environments. Blastodinium may hinder reproduction of copepod hosts, thereby influencing local copepod populations and, by extension, food webs up to humanity. Copepod populations may also help contain disease spread, such as malaria and Dengue fever, through their consumption of mosquito larvae in standing water. Further evaluation of copepods for Blastodinium may help shed light on the limited knowledge of this species and the nature of its relationship with copepods, as well as its effects on copepod populations and the higher order consequences of its parasitism.