DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANT PARASITOLOGY

  • Laboratory of Environmental Parasitology

Primary research interests are focused on intestinal endoparasites of human and animals (monitoring of soil contamination with germ and propagative stages at different public places  of public health importance, e.g. public parks, playgrounds, sandpits, sidewalks, road sides) and recycling of organic waste in terms of parasitology. The most recent investigations  involve studies on biodiversity, ecotoxicology and ecology of communities of free living and plant parasitic nematodes particularly in heavily polluted environments. Key areas are  the biological active components of soil using the soil nematode communities and local vegetation. We offer occurrence survey of human and animal parasitic germs in different ecological conditions, different populations groups, effective measures to reduce the epizootologically and epidemiologically significant contamination of urban and rural ecosystems by  parasitic agents and detection of toxic substances.

 

  • Laboratory of Plant Parasitology

Research is mainly oriented  towards the study of soil nematode fauna with a focus on economically important group of plant parasitic nematodes that can cause significant losses in plant production in Europe. Key areas of our interest are biology and  pathogenicity and occurrence of plant parasitic nematodes. Other study areas include structure of soil nematode communities, nematode trophic groups, nematode biomass, metabolic footprint, nematodes as indicators of changes in ecosystems due to various natural (fire, windstorm) and artificial disturbances (heavy metal pollutions, tillage, etc.). We offer comparative research of plant parasitic nematode communities as invasive species in Europe, study of changes in distribution of plant parasitic nematodes in relations to global climate changes.