title: Zoosporic parasites infecting marine diatoms - A black box that needs to be opened.
abstract: Living organisms in aquatic ecosystems are almost constantly confronted by pathogens. Nevertheless, very little is known about diseases of marine diatoms, the main primary producers of the oceans. Only a few examples of marine diatoms infected by zoosporic parasites are published, yet these studies suggest that diseases may have significant impacts on the ecology of individual diatom hosts and the composition of communities at both the producer and consumer trophic levels of food webs. Here we summarize available ecological and morphological data on chytrids, aphelids, stramenopiles (including oomycetes, labyrinthuloids, and hyphochytrids), parasitic dinoflagellates, cercozoans and phytomyxids, all of which are known zoosporic parasites of marine diatoms. Difficulties in identification of host and pathogen species and possible effects of environmental parameters on the prevalence of zoosporic parasites are discussed. Based on published data, we conclude that zoosporic parasites are much more abundant in marine ecosystems than the available literature reports, and that, at present, both the diversity and the prevalence of such pathogens are underestimated.
authors.affiliation: BioPol ehf., Einbúastig 2, 545 Skagaströnd, Iceland; Faculty of Natural Resource Sciences, University of Akureyri, Borgir v. Nordurslod, IS 600 Akureyri, Iceland.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, UMR 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier, CS90074, 29688 Roscoff cedex, France.
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guillou
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Botânica, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Micologia, Av. Miguel Stéfano 3687, 04301-912, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Agostina V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Marano
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neuhauser
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Brooke K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences, Applied Ecology & Phycology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 3, 18059 Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Karsten
authors.affiliation: Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Main Street, Newburgh AB41 6AA, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Frithjof C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Küpper
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences FO7, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Frank H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Gleason
keywords: Aphelids; Cercozoans; Chytrids; Dinoflagellates; Labyrinthulids; Oomycetes; Plasmodiophorids