TY  - JOUR
A1  - Reckendorf, Anja
A1  - Ludes-Wehrmeister, Eva
A1  - Wohlsein, Peter
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Siebert, U.
A1  - Lehnert, Kristina
T1  - First record of Halocercus sp (Pseudaliidae) lungworm infections in two stranded neonatal orcas (Orcinus orca)
JF  - Parasitology
N2  - Orca (Orcinus orca) strandings are rare and post-mortem examinations on fresh individuals are scarce. Thus, little is known about their parasitological fauna, prevalence of infections, associated pathology and the impact on their health. During post-mortem examinations of two male neonatal orcas stranded in Germany and Norway, lungworm infections were found within the bronchi of both individuals. The nematodes were identified as Halocercus sp. (Pseudaliidae), which have been described in the respiratory tract of multiple odontocete species, but not yet in orcas. The life cycle and transmission pathways of some pseudaliid nematodes are incompletely understood. Lungworm infections in neonatal cetaceans are an unusual finding and thus seem to be an indicator for direct mother-to-calf transmission (transplacental or transmammary) of Halocercus sp. nematodes in orcas.
KW  - Cetaceans
KW  - endoparasites
KW  - killer whale
KW  - life cycle
KW  - nematodes
KW  - vertical transmission
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182018000586
SN  - 0031-1820
SN  - 1469-8161
VL  - 145
IS  - 12
SP  - 1553
EP  - 1557
PB  - Cambridge Univ. Press
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Van den Wyngaert, Silke
A1  - Rojas-Jimenez, Keilor
A1  - Seto, Kensuke
A1  - Kagami, Maiko
A1  - Grossart, Hans-Peter
T1  - Diversity and Hidden Host Specificity of Chytrids Infecting Colonial Volvocacean Algae
JF  - Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
N2  - Chytrids are zoosporic fungi that play an important, but yet understudied, ecological role in aquatic ecosystems. Many chytrid species have been morphologically described as parasites on phytoplankton. However, the majority of them have rarely been isolated and lack DNA sequence data. In this study we isolated and cultivated three parasitic chytrids, infecting a common volvocacean host species, Yamagishiella unicocca. To identify the chytrids, we characterized morphology and life cycle, and analyzed phylogenetic relationships based on 18S and 28S rDNA genes. Host range and specificity of the chytrids was determined by cross-infection assays with host strains, characterized by rbcL and ITS markers. We were able to confirm the identity of two chytrid strains as Endocoenobium eudorinae Ingold and Dangeardia mamillata Schroder and described the third chytrid strain as Algomyces stechlinensis gen. et sp. nov. The three chytrids were assigned to novel and phylogenetically distant clades within the phylum Chytridiomycota, each exhibiting different host specificities. By integrating morphological and molecular data of both the parasitic chytrids and their respective host species, we unveiled cryptic host-parasite associations. This study highlights that a high prevalence of (pseudo)cryptic diversity requires molecular characterization of both phytoplankton host and parasitic chytrid to accurately identify and compare host range and specificity, and to study phytoplankton-chytrid interactions in general.
KW  - Chytridiomycota
KW  - Dangeardia mamillata
KW  - Endocoenobium eudorinae
KW  - fungal parasites
KW  - life cycle
KW  - phytoplankton
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12632
SN  - 1066-5234
SN  - 1550-7408
VL  - 65
IS  - 6
SP  - 870
EP  - 881
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -