Chytrids are tiny but impactful fungi. By parasitizing and killing phytoplankton - key players in aquatic food webs, oxygen production, and carbon cycling, they have significant ecosystem-wide impacts. Chytrids cause seasonal outbreaks, but their fragile, short-lived infectious spores cannot explain how they persist between outbreaks. This project explores whether chytrids survive these gaps by forming dormant resting spores in sediments, which reactivate under favorable conditions. Using advanced genetic and microscopy techniques, we will study how temperature and oxygen influence dormancy, germination, and infection, while uncovering the molecular mechanisms behind these transitions. Integrating this knowledge into computer models will improve predictions of chytrid outbreaks under changing environments. Our findings will deepen understanding of aquatic ecosystems, including the Baltic Sea, and have applications in ecosystem management and algal biotechnology.

2025

2029