Protists as determinants of the One Health framework

Alejandro Berlinches de Gea; Julia Walochnik; Jens Boenigk; Kenneth Dumack; Fiona Henriquez-Mui; Sonja Rückert; Martin Simon; Stefan Geisen

doi:10.1093/ismejo/wraf179

Protists as determinants of the One Health framework

Alejandro Berlinches de Gea, Julia Walochnik, Jens Boenigk, Kenneth Dumack, Fiona Henriquez-Mui, Sonja Rückert, Martin Simon, Stefan Geisen

Civil And Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

One Health connects three main health elements: humans, animals and the environment. Protists influence all three, but their role in the overall One Health framework has been widely overlooked. Here, we highlight the key characteristics that make protists integral to the One Health framework and provide examples on the negative and positive effects of protists on each element. Most importantly, we emphasize how protists connect all One Health elements. Finally, we discuss how protists can be leveraged to enhance One Health. In conclusion, the vast diversity (phylogenetical, functional and morphological) of protists is key in shaping One Health and can be targeted to improve individual One Health elements and their connections.

Original language	English
Article number	wraf179
Number of pages	7
Journal	ISME Journal
Volume	19
Issue number	1
Early online date	22 Aug 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf179
Publication status	Published - 10 Sept 2025

Funding

We acknowledge support by the (CRC) RESIST funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under CRC 1439/1—project number: 426547801; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (project number: GBMF9327.01, https://www.moore.org/grantdetail?grantId=GBMF9327.01); the European Commission Horizon Europe project BIOservicES [grant agreement 101112374]

Keywords

protists
One Health
animals
humans
environment
pathogen
mutualism
element cycling

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1093/ismejo/wraf179Licence: CC BY 4.0

de-Gea-etal-ISMEJ-2025-Protists-as-determinants-of-the-One-Health-frameworkFinal published version, 619 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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AU - Rückert, Sonja

AU - Simon, Martin

AU - Geisen, Stefan

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Protists as determinants of the One Health framework

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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