Protisto parasitoek anfipodoetan eragindako disrupzio endokrinoa eta beren eragina itsas baliabide biologikoen osasunean eta kutsaduraren efektu biologikoen ebaluaketan

Abstract

Amphipods form one of the most abundant and diverse groups of crustaceans worldwide. Given their ecological significance, ubiquity, small size, and sensitivity to various toxic substances, they are widely used as sentinels of pollution effects. Like most organisms, amphipods can be parasitized by viruses, bacteria, and protists. Among the protists, we find microsporidians and ascetosporeans, which can infect tissues involved in hormonal development, causing a ‘natural’ endocrine disruption in the host, which would have the potential to imàit the health of marine biological resources and to interfere with pollution effects monitoring programmes. Herein, we characterize these two pathogen lineages that infect common amphipods of the Bay of Biscay and investigate their role as “natural” feminizing agents.