Thomas Berendonk, Professor of Dresden University of Technology, visited IHB on Dec. 15, 2017. 

On December 15^th, Thomas Berendonk, Professor of Dresden University of Technology, was invited to visit Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences. During his visit, he gave a presentation with the title of “About Antibiotics resistance, biomonitors and Pearl mussels in freshwater - some case studies on the analysis of freshwater quality in Germany”. 

His first topic focused on the antibiotic resistant bacteria and their genes. He pointed out the release of the resistant genes of antibiotics from the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and warned its negative impacts on freshwater ecosystem. Then he introduced their recent studies on this topic and showed the audience some of their results, based on which he said that several conclusions had been achieved but further efforts were still in need.  

His second topic focused on biomonitoring and ecotoxicology. He introduced a biomonitoring equipment – Dtox which could monitor the water quality by the datamation of Daphnia’s behaviors. The equipment was recently introduced to IHB’s field station at Lake Bao’an and is now running successfully. Based on the monitoring data from experimental ponds, he showed some graphs which reflected continuous conditions of the water quality throughout a three months’ period.  

His last topic focused on the protection of the river pearl mussels. River pearl mussel was a culturally and ecologically important species in Germany but is now under the risk of disappearance in natural environments. His research group had been working on the breeding and release of river pearl mussels for years, but the rate of survival was still low. They were trying more flexible methods to continue their works and looking forward to better results. 

After the lecture, the audience interacted with Professor Berendonk on issues of mutual interest.