Departments / Inland Fisheries


Mohammad Reza Saghari Fard

IGB, Dept.5,
Inland Fisheries 
12587 Berlin, Müggelseedamm 310

Fields of Interests:

Parasitology, histopathology, immunology

Tel: (030) 64 181 631
Fax: (030) 64 181 799

fardreza@igb-berlin.de

 Foto

Education and Employment Publications
Research Interests

Education and Employment
1990 - 1994 1990-1994 Diploma in Experimental Sciences at Hekmat High School, Mashad, Iran
1994 - 1998  B.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering at Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran
1997 Three months research training at Plant Pests & Diseases Research Institute, Mashad, Iran for employing the Trichogramma Wasps, as bio- control agents, to protect apple orchards against the codling moth pest Carpocapsa pomonella in Khorassan province.
1998 Four months research training at Entomology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran for investigation of aphid fauna affecting apple, pear and quince trees in the Khorassan province gardens.

Student project “Estimation of damage on cotton caused by whitefly moth Bemisia gossipyperda”at Ferdowsi University of Mashad, Iran.
1998 - 1999 One year work as plant pathologist consulting about pests and disease control in farm contracting with “Peymayesh Afagh” (Agro-Business Company) in Mashad, Iran.
1999-2001 M.Sc. in International Agricultural Sciences at Faculty of Horticulture and Agriculture, Humboldt University, Berlin,
Master thesis: Ecology, host-parasite interaction, and ultrastructure of diplomonad flagellates in commercially important fish species. Supervisors: Dr. Sarah Poynton, and Dr. Bernhard Rennert

Student projects “Review of rural aquaculture in tropical aquaculture of India” and “Reproduction of cardinal fish Tanichthys albonubes in aquarium conditions” at Faculty of Horticulture and Agriculture, Humboldt University

Six month research training at Dept. Biology and Ecology Fisheries, IGB for measurement of individual energy allocation in fish.

Student project “Determination of growth rate and food preference of the white fin gudgeon Gobio albipinnatus from the lowland river Oder in the Polish-German national park” at Faculty of Horticulture and Agriculture, Humboldt University

2002 - 2003 Research assistant at Dept. Inland Fisheries, IGB for ultrastructural and ecological characterisation of diplomonad flagellates in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, in vitro culture of diplomonads, and co-authoring the paper “Poynton SL, Fard MRS, Ferguson HW & Jenkins J (2004).
2004 Seven weeks research training at Dept. Vertebrate Genomics, Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, to cultivate cells (Drosophila melanogaster insect and Escherichia coli bacteria), incubate antibodies against cytoskeletal proteins, isolate DNA, and learn to use confocal laser-scanning microscopy, epiflourescence microscopy, agarose gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometer, and SDS-PAGE. Supervisor: Dr. Bodo Lange
2004-present Ph.D. Student at Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt University, Berlin and IGB.

Ph.D. thesis: Host-parasite relationships in diplomonad flagellates in commercially important freshwater fish. Supervisors: Dr. Sarah Poynton and Prof. Frank Kirschbaum. Supported by a Ph.D. Scholarship from the Promotionsförderung des Landes Berlin –NaFöG
2004-2005 Reviewer for manuscripts for Acta Protozoologica Journal

Research Interests

Host-parasite relationships in diplomonad flagellates in commercially important freshwater fish

My Ph.D. project will focus upon the intestinal diplomonad flagellate Spironucleus infecting farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in Germany, and will investigate;

a) Host-parasite interaction: microhabitat preferences

b) Relationship between density of infection and intestinal pathology (histopathology and ultrastructure)

c) Immune response of the host

d) Characterisation of ultrastructure and ecological requirements (including investigation of possible golgi-analogues)

e) Developing new species-specific diagnostic tests (PAS for cytoplasm, labelling of α-tubulin for accessory cytoskeleton)

f) Occurrence of active host location by experiments with four Spironucleus species and skin mucus from normal and abnormal hosts

Spironucleus

The results will have practical benefits for aquaculture, and yield fundamental new knowledge of the cell biology of these primitive protozoans.

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Publications

Publications

Poynton SL, Fard MRS, Ferguson HW & Jenkins J, (2004). Ultrustructure of Spironucleus salmonis n. comb. (formerly Octomitus salmonis sensu Moore 1922, Davis 926, and Hexamita salmonis sensu Ferguson 1979), with a guide to Spironucleus species. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 60:49-64.

Presentations

“Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2004“ at Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin. I presented the life cycle of Drosophila under light microscopy, and demonstrated myosis and mitosis in Drosophila cells using anti-α–tubulin and DAPI under immunoflorescence microscopy

Poynton SL, Jenkins J, Fard MRS & Sterud E “Pathogenic diplomonad flagellates from fish: recent advances in species recognition, epizootiology, and pathology”. Oral presentation at Fourth International Symposium on Aquatic Animal Health, New Orleans, Louisiana USA


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