One Health Parasitology Conference in Brazil: XXVII Congresso Da Sociedade Brasileira De Parasitologia

'Parasitologia na perspectiva da Saúde Única'

Happy and thankful to be part of this years congress in parasitology in The XXVII Congress of the Brazilian Society of Parasitology - PARASITO-2021, which will be held online
from May 4th to 6th, 2021.

The programme is available here for download.

In my talk, I'll be giving examples of the applicability of the metabarcoding assay in place at our institute (Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen) for detecting and differentiating parasites in various matrices from humans, other animals and the environment. 

Abstract Deadline Extension

 Message from Tasos:

Dear Blastocystis colleagues and enthusiasts,

I would like to remind you that the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference (http://blastocystis2021.com ) will take place virtually between 2nd to 4th of June 2021 

We have extended the abstract submission deadline until the 30th of April  (http://blastocystis2021.com/abstract-guidelines/ )! 

Please note that the early-bird registration deadline remains the same and is approaching soon (tomorrow): April 15th, 2021 (http://blastocystis2021.com/registration/ ). 

Participants from LMICs will receive a 20% discount in their registration fees. Please contact the Conference Secretariat (synedrio@topkinisis.com ) to register at the discounted rate.

For frequent updates, please follow us on twitter: @Blastocystis21 . Please do also spread the word! 

If you require any information, please do not hesitate to contact me and I am looking forward to seeing you (even virtually) in June 2021.

Best wishes,

Anastasios (Tasos) Tsaousis

on behalf of the Organizing Committee

Dear all,

This is to remind you that the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference (http://blastocystis2021.com) will take place virtually between 2nd to 4th of June 2021 and currently both the registration (http://blastocystis2021.com/registration/) and the abstract submissions are open (http://blastocystis2021.com/abstract-guidelines/), with the deadlines for abstract submission and early-bird registration approaching soon: April 15th, 2021.

Participants from LMICs will receive a 20% discount in their registration fees. Please contact the Conference Secretariat (synedrio@topkinisis.com) to register at the discounted rate.

 For frequent updates, please follow us on twitter: @Blastocystis21 . Please do also spread the word! 

We look forward to seeing you (even virtually) in June 2021.

 

Special Issue in Microorganisms "Evolution and Genetic Diversity of Gut Protozoan Parasites"

Hi everyone,

Please consider the new Special Issue (SI) in Microorganisms (section on Parasitology) 'Evolution and Genetic Diversity of Gut Protozoan Parasites' if you wish to publish data on these topics and you're looking for target journals. We use the term 'protozoan' broadly so that it also comprises Blastocystis.

This SI will be co-edited by Anastasios Tsaousis (yes, our next Blastocystis conference organiser!) and myself.

We welcome articles (original articles and reviews) that significantly contribute data on the genetic diversity and evolution of gut protozoan parasites. We are particularly interested in articles that use or introduce novel technologies and/or approaches to investigate these matters. We are also interested in research investigating the host specificity and geographical distribution of these parasites. Research dealing with how the extent of genetic diversity reflects host adaptation will receive special priority. Moreover, we specifically call for research that deals with gut parasites in a gut microbiome context.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2021. 

Please go here for more information.

Thanks for your consideration.

3rd International Blastocystis Conference - abstract submission open!

Hi Everyone, and a very Happy New Year!

Please note that abstract submission and registration for the 3rd International Blastocystis Conference (virtual, 2nd to 4th of June) is now OPEN! Click here to register and share your Blastocystis research!

We have registration fees as low as € 15 for early birds!

For Twitter users, please also follow @Blastocystis21 for updates.

Our website is now live along with the abstract submission for the next #Blastocystis Conference! Spread the word! 145 days to go ...
@Blastocystis #protists #abstractsubmission #Blastocystis21 https://t.co/T3mX9bv4Jf

— Blastocystis 2021 (@Blastocystis21) January 7, 2021

The Blastocystis PubMLST database now has a new look!

Thanks to Keith Jolley and colleauges, the PubMLST site now has a new look! Why not try and visit the Blastocystis section? It's available here. 

The Blastocystis database has mostly been used to identify whether subtypes that are shared between humans are animals reflect the same strains or not based on intra-subtype genetic variation (allele analysis), for which is works quite well. For this purpose, you should use DNA sequences reflecting the barcode region.

 You can query a single sequence or a whole batch of sequences. On the landing page, simply press 'Typing' and then opt for 'Single sequence' or 'Batch seqeunces', depending on what you want to analyse.

It's our ambition to expand the database with more subtype alleles, since this will allow all Blastocystis researchers interested in Blastocystis epidemiology to query their barcode sequences against a curated, standardised database. However, the genetic universe of Blastocystis is rapidly expanding, so it can be difficult to keep up! 

This site works best with Sanger sequences, or, possibly, consensus sequences generated based on next-generation sequencing of the 5'-end of the SSU rRNA gene of Blastocystis; we still haven't very much experience with the latter.