Ecological consequences of widespread post-hurricane Katrina oil spills: Integrating chemistry with biology in the field and laboratory

飓风卡特里娜飓风后大面积漏油的生态后果：将野外和实验室中的化学与生物学结合起来拟议工作的主要目标是将沼泽鱼类的基因组、发育和生理影响与卡特里娜飓风对工业化沿海地区造成的破坏期间释放的应激源联系起来。这些结果很可能有助于更好地了解生物体对各种自然和人为应激源的反应，并有助于改进修复工作。将被调查的假设之一是，石油对当地鱼类的相关毒性将是显著的。第二个假设是，石油污染水平将预测功能基因组反应，功能基因组反应将预测沼泽鱼类的发育和生理反应。最后一个假设是，与重大风暴事件相关的自然和人为应激源的组合将以复杂的方式相互作用，控制紧急应激表型。这些假说将通过将野外实验与受控的实验室暴露相结合，将化学数据与生物数据相结合，并将功能基因组终点与生态应激的遗传毒性、生理和发育指标相结合来验证。这项使用先进基因组技术的不同寻常的研究将利用飓风在一个主要石油活动中心造成的破坏来考虑飓风洪水和大风对生态系统的自然应激源与工业和居民区释放的人为应激源之间的相互作用。这项工作的更广泛影响包括促进对受工业和城市系统高度影响的沿海沼泽生态功能的更基本的了解；开发环境基因组学模型；向参与沿海地区可持续性的地方、州和联邦组织传输信息。本科生一直是这项工作的初步研究的中心，并将参与整个项目。研究生和本科生都将从该项目中受益，它可能会吸引代表不足的群体进入科学和工程专业。

Whitehead, Andrew PILouisiana State University0652006Ecological consequences of widespread post-hurricane Katrina oil spills: Integrating chemistry with biology in the field and laboratoryThe major goal of the proposed work is to link genomic, developmental, and physiological effects in marsh-dwelling fish with stressors released during the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina to an industrialized coastal area. It is likely that the results will inform a greater understanding of the responses of organisms to a variety of natural and anthropogenic stressors and lead to improved restoration efforts. One of the hypotheses that will be investigated is that oil-associated toxicity to resident fish will be significant. A second hypothesis is that oil contamination levels will be predictive of functional genomic responses, and that functional genomic responses will be predictive of developmental and physiological responses in marsh fishes. A final hypothesis is that combinations of natural and anthropogenic stressors associated with major storm events will interact in complex ways in governing the emergent stress phenotype. These hypotheses will be tested by integrating field experiments with controlled laboratory exposures, combining chemical with biological data, and coupling functional genomic endpoints with genotoxic, physiological, and developmental indicators of ecological stress.This unusual study using advanced genomic techniques will take advantage of the hurricane-induced damage in a major center of petroleum activity to consider the interaction of the natural stressors to the ecosystem from the flooding and high winds of hurricanes and the anthropogenic stressors released from the industrial and residential areas. The broader impacts of this work include advancement of a more fundamental understanding of ecological functioning in coastal marshes that are highly influenced by industrial and urban systems; development of an environmental genomics model; and information transfer to local, state, and federal organizations involved in sustainability of coastal regions. Undergraduate students have been central to the preliminary research for this work and will be involved throughout the project. Both graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from the project and it is likely to attract under-represented groups to science and engineering.