ParaKrill · Parasites in Antarctic Krill: diversity, distribution & impact
„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“
- Период
- 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 277 940 €
- Участници
- 2
- Схема
- MSCA-IF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
Паразитите по антарктическия крил, като едноклетъчните организми, се изследват по отношение на разпространението и влиянието им върху растежа и яйцеклетките на ракообразното. Това помага за по-доброто разбиране на екосистемите в Антарктика и устойчивото управление на риболова.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
Parasites in Antarctic Krill: diversity, distribution & impact
Krill are essential components of Antarctic ecosystems – they are important prey for fish, seals, penguins, and whales, and they influence carbon and nutrient cycling. This keystone role of krill means that in order to sustainably manage human impacts on Antarctic ecosystems, we need to understand the factors which influence krill populations. One factor we don’t currently know much about is the role of parasites. Parasites are difficult to see within krill, and so until recently have been thought to be relatively rare in the Antarctic. Emerging genetic tools offer a more sensitive way to detect parasites, and early data suggests parasites may infect as many as one in ten krill, in certain times and places (Cleary et al. 2019). When we look at parasites in other animals related to krill, we see that some parasites appear not to affect their host very much at all, some parasites make their host grow more slowly or have fewer offspring, and some parasites (called parasitoids) even kill their host. In the ParaKrill project we generated new data on the types & distributions of parasites infecting krill, and on the impacts parasites have on the infected individuals. By combing these different types of data, we aimed to get a better understanding of what role krill-parasite interactions play in Antarctic ecosystems. We found a diverse assemblage of parasites within krill, including both single celled and multicellular parasites. We observed that female krill infested with parasites produced lower quality eggs, which may have implications for population dynamics. We also explored the impacts of parasites on krill growth and metabolism. Our results expand our understanding of the role of parasites, and have implications for sustainably managing the fishery for these small crustaceans in a changing environment.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, play essential roles in the Southern Ocean. These small pelagic crustaceans are prey for most of the region’s birds, mammals, and fish, as well as influencing the carbon cycle through export to the deep sea. Additionally, krill are the target of a currently expanding commercial fishery. Sustainably managing Antarctic krill requires an understanding of the factors influencing their growth, reproduction and mortality. One such factor which remains very poorly known is the role of parasites. My recent research using new molecular tools has shown a much higher than expected diversity and prevalence of parasite infections in krill. I observed DNA sequences of a broad variety of parasites (fungi, peronosporomycetes, apicomplexa, nematodes, and ciliates) within the guts of krill, with over 10% of krill individuals containing parasite DNA. This MSCA action will build on those preliminary results – applying a combination of novel molecular approaches, traditional incubation experiments, and mathematical modelling to address three key questions: 1) What eukaryotic parasites and symbionts are found in E. superba? 2) How are parasites distributed in geographic and environmental space? and 3) What impact do parasites have on E. superba secondary production? To address these broad questions this project brings together research expertise from Australia (Australian Antarctic Division), Europe (British Antarctic Survey and the University of Stirling), and the Americas (National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico), as well as establishing new intersectoral collaborations with fisheries (Association of Responsible Krill Harvesting Companies) and tourism (Hurtigruten). The results of this research will be communicated to national and international krill fisheries management organizations – allowing the role of parasites to be taken into account to improve the sustainability of management for this key species.
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- UNITED KINGDOM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION · SWINDONКоординаторОбединеното кралство
- Australian Antarctic Division · KingstonАвстралия
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз