Identification and mitochondrial behavior of myxosporean (Cnidaria: Endocnidozoa) parasites of fish and annelids from fish farms

• Grant number: 22/07431-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Inland Water Fishery Resources
• Principal Investigator: Maria José Tavares Ranzani de Paiva
• Grantee: Kassia Roberta Hygino Capodifoglio
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesca. Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles involved in the cellular respiration process and are present in practically all types of eukaryotic cells, plants and animals, in proportion to the metabolic activity of each organism. In myxosporeans, parasitic Cnidaria that infect vertebrates and invertebrates, mitochondria are present in larger numbers on the periphery of plasmodia, where large pinocytotic activity occurs and to a lesser extent in the central part of the plasmodium where the mature myxospores are agglomerated. The transformations of this organelle are associated with changes not yet understood in the metabolic activity of these parasites. Thus, the main objective of this project will be to identify the myxosporean species found infecting of the fish species Piaractus mesopotamicus, Astyanax lacustris and Oreochromis niloticus, as well worms collected in fish farms in the state of São Paulo through of morphological and molecular analyses based on the sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA). As also to understand mitochondrial behavior of these parasites in the two phases of development (myxospore and actinospore), through fluorescence microscopy, confocal laser microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.