IADO   05364
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE OCEANOGRAFIA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
The role of wetland microinvertebrates in spreading human diseases
Autor/es:
NEOGI, S.B.; YAMASAKI, S.; ALAM, M.; LARA, R.J.
Revista:
WETLANDS ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2014 p. 469 - 491
ISSN:
0923-4861
Resumen:
The increasing loads of anthropogenic pollutants, compounded with
climate change events, are likely to induce environmental changes in many wetlands
with impacts on the native microinvertebrates and pathogens causing increased
occurrence of water-borne diseases, which affect millions of people each year.
In wetlands bacterial pathogens are actively preyed on by many protozoa and
filter-feeding organisms but this predation can be compensated by the nourishment
and protection offered by certain microinvertebrates, acting as hosts, e.g.,
chitinous rotifers, copepods and cladocerans. The complex interactions of
ecological, biological, and genetic components mediate disease-causing
organisms to exploit microinvertebrate hosts to occupy diverse niches, obtain nutrition,
and withstand physico-chemical stresses. The persistence of the human pathogens
in wetlands is often enabled by their association with microinvertebrates and
also depends on their quorum sensing mediated colonization, biofilm formation,
switching into dormant stage, and horizontal transfer of adaptive genes. The
symbiosis with microinvertebrates is facilitated by the pathogen?s immune
evasion and fitness factors, e.g., Type-IV pili, capsular-polysaccharides, nutrient
transportation, virulence and binding proteins, proteases, chitinases, and
secretion systems. Spatio-temporal variation in the population of copepods and
aquatic eggs/larvae of mosquitoes and midge flies, which act as vectors, can
influence the outbreaks of cholera, diarrhea, malaria, dengue, filariasis and
drucunculiasis. Changes in climatic factors (temperature, salinity, cyclones, rainfall,
etc.) and anthropogenic pollutions (sewage, fertilizer and insecticide) may
modify the abundance and biodiversity of microinvertebrates, and thus possibly
exacerbate the persistence and dispersal of water-borne pathogens. Thus there
is a need to adopt ecohydrological and ecofriendly interventions for managing
wetlands while conserving them.