Diversity and parasite-host interactions of myxozoan parasites of Bryconidae fish

• Grant number: 23/15107-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Augusto Mendes Maia
• Grantee: Caroline Munhoz Meira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/24980-8 - Myxozoa - cnidarians adapted to parasitismo: integrating different tools to investigate diversity, evolutionary history, development, and host-parasite interactions, AP.BTA.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/04397-0 - Application of eDNA metabarcoding for detecting myxozoan communities in natural and aquaculture environments in Brazil, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Myxozoa are a highly diverse group of cnidarian endoparasites, that harbors approximately 2,600 species that infect various tissues and organs of vertebrates, mainly fish. These parasites affect economically important fish in aquaculture and commercial fishing, such as Bryconidae from the genera Brycon and Salminus, which are Characiformes of great economic significance in recreational and commercial fishing and aquaculture systems. The aim of this project is to investigate the diversity, evolutionary history, development, distribution, and host-parasite interactions of myxozoans found in fish of the genus Brycon (B. hilarii, B. orbignyanus, and B. amazonicus) and in Salminus brasiliensis from natural environments and fish farms. After capture, the fish will be transported alive to a field laboratory, euthanized, and subjected to external examination and necropsy to investigate the presence of myxozoans. Host tissues or fluids containing parasites will be fixed in absolute ethanol, formaldehyde, and glutaraldehyde for subsequent taxonomic analysis based on light and electron microscopy and DNA sequencing (18S and RADseq), as well as studies of host-parasite interaction through histopathological and ultrastructural analyses. As a result, it is expected to gain insight into the diversity of myxozoan parasites in these species of Bryconids in both natural environments and fish farms, as well as the effects of parasitism on the tissues of the different host species focused on in this project under these different conditions.