@misc{FrenkenAlacidBergeretal.2017, author = {Frenken, Thijs and Alacid, Elisabet and Berger, Stella A. and Bourne, Elizabeth Charlotte and Gerphagnon, Melanie and Großart, Hans-Peter and Gsell, Alena S. and Ibelings, Bas W. and Kagami, Maiko and Kupper, Frithjof C. and Letcher, Peter M. and Loyau, Adeline and Miki, Takeshi and Nejstgaard, Jens C. and Rasconi, Serena and Rene, Albert and Rohrlack, Thomas and Rojas-Jimenez, Keilor and Schmeller, Dirk S. and Scholz, Bettina and Seto, Kensuke and Sime-Ngando, Telesphore and Sukenik, Assaf and Van de Waal, Dedmer B. and Van den Wyngaert, Silke and Van Donk, Ellen and Wolinska, Justyna and Wurzbacher, Christian and Agha, Ramsy}, title = {Integrating chytrid fungal parasites into plankton ecology: research gaps and needs}, series = {Environmental microbiology}, volume = {19}, journal = {Environmental microbiology}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1462-2912}, doi = {10.1111/1462-2920.13827}, pages = {3802 -- 3822}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Chytridiomycota, often referred to as chytrids, can be virulent parasites with the potential to inflict mass mortalities on hosts, causing e.g. changes in phytoplankton size distributions and succession, and the delay or suppression of bloom events. Molecular environmental surveys have revealed an unexpectedly large diversity of chytrids across a wide range of aquatic ecosystems worldwide. As a result, scientific interest towards fungal parasites of phytoplankton has been gaining momentum in the past few years. Yet, we still know little about the ecology of chytrids, their life cycles, phylogeny, host specificity and range. Information on the contribution of chytrids to trophic interactions, as well as co-evolutionary feedbacks of fungal parasitism on host populations is also limited. This paper synthesizes ideas stressing the multifaceted biological relevance of phytoplankton chytridiomycosis, resulting from discussions among an international team of chytrid researchers. It presents our view on the most pressing research needs for promoting the integration of chytrid fungi into aquatic ecology.}, language = {en} }