Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health

该奖项将为美国国家科学基金会在加州大学圣地亚哥分校斯克里普斯海洋学研究所建立斯克里普斯海洋与人类健康中心提供支持。斯克里普斯COHH研究小组将采用多学科方法来阐明与一些人为污染物具有相同化学特征的小的、天然的、溴化的芳香化合物的海洋循环。这项研究将集中在南加州湾，在那里我们应用了一种新的非目标分析方法来证明300种卤化有机化合物在海豚——一种顶级海洋捕食者——体内的存在，它们在近海或近海觅食。这些化合物中有多达30%含有溴，并且没有已知的人为来源。在某些情况下，类似的化合物以前被假设为在其他海洋环境中自然起源。考虑到这些化合物在顶级海洋捕食者体内的生物积累，它们一定可以通过食用海产品进入人类种群。这些可能是天然的溴化有机化合物将成为中心活动的焦点，主要有两个原因。首先，尽管有几项研究记录了这些所谓的天然化合物在顶级捕食者体内的存在，但大多数研究都无法描述营养转移，也没有研究明确确定来源生物。该团队最近在一种海洋细菌中发现了一个生物合成簇，它能够产生大多数感兴趣的碳骨架和溴化模式。为了建立源生物的空间格局和普遍性，他们将继续通过培养研究来表征这一生物合成途径，并通过宏基因组学来研究环境分布。此外，通过使用我们的非目标分析方法全面调查底栖和远洋栖息地的所有营养水平，他们将直接展示这些化合物是如何进入顶级捕食者的。这将进一步使我们能够描绘这些化合物进入人类群体的潜在途径。其次，这些化合物在顶级捕食者体内的存在表明，它们必须通过食用海产品进入人类种群，但这一点尚未被记录在案。为了验证这一点，研究小组将采用一种非针对性的方法来分析当地母亲的母乳，这些母亲接受了调查，记录了她们的海鲜消费习惯。由于这些化合物类似于多溴二苯醚、多氯联苯和多氯联苯等人为污染物，预计它们对人类和野生动物都具有类似的毒性作用。在海豚体内最丰富的溴化天然化合物具有吡咯骨架，它们的毒性影响文献很少，因此，他们将在斑马鱼模型中检查这些化合物的潜在毒性。总之，这些努力寻求确定来源生物体和生产的生物合成机制，并描绘向人类转移的模式。更广泛的影响。更全面地了解这些化合物的海洋循环，将使我们能够评估全球变化如何影响这些化合物的来源——迄今为止，这是不可能的。此外，我们将能够评估蓬勃发展的水产养殖业和一般海产品消费在将这些化合物转移给人类方面所起的作用。中心的组织结构以及与国家海洋和大气管理局和当地水资源管理机构的持续合作将确保研究方法和研究结果受益于制定公共卫生政策决定、进行环境监测和管理资源的个人的投入。中心门户网站（www.scohh.ucsd.edu）和个人外展工作也将通过与K-12教室和当地社区的互动，使公众了解并参与我们的研究活动。通过参与加州大学圣地亚哥分校STARS项目、SIO nsf赞助的SURF项目和加州大学圣地亚哥分校-霍华德大学路径项目，将做出特别努力，让加州大学洛杉矶分校的本科生参与该中心的研究。由NSF和NIEHS联合资助：该项目的原始提案（P01 ES021921-01）是根据资助机会公告RFA-ES-11-012，“海洋人类健康中心（P01）？”由NSF联合赞助的机会，提交给国家环境健康科学研究所（NIH/NIEHS）的。本项目由NSF和NIEHS分别合作资助。

This award will provide NSF support for the establishment of the Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography of the University of California - San Diego. The Scripps COHH research team will apply a multidisciplinary approach to elucidate the marine cycling of small, natural, brominated, aromatic compounds that share chemical characteristics with some anthropogenic contaminants. The study will be focused in the Southern California Bight where we have applied a new non-targeted analytical approach to demonstrate the presence of 300 halogenated organic compounds in dolphins - an apex marine predator - feeding either offshore or inshore. As many as 30% of these compounds contain bromine and have no known anthropogenic source. In some cases, similar compounds have been previously hypothesized to be of natural origin in other marine environments. Given that these compounds bioaccumulate in apex marine predators they must be available to enter human populations through seafood consumption. These brominated, likely natural organic compounds will be the focus od Center activity for two main reasons. First, although several studies have documented the presence of these purported natural compounds in top predators, most have been unable to delineate trophic transfer, and no study has definitively identified source organisms. the team has recently identified a biosynthetic cluster in a marine bacterium that is capable of producing most of the carbon skeletons and bromination patterns of interest. To establish spatial patterns and ubiquity of source organisms they will continue to characterize this biosynthetic pathway through culture studies and examine environmental distributions through metagenomics. Furthermore, by using our non-targeted analytical approach to comprehensively survey all trophic levels in benthic and pelagic habitats they will directly demonstrate how these compounds enter apex predators. This will further enable us to delineate potential pathways by which these compounds enter human populations.Secondly, the presence of these compounds in apex predators indicates that they must enter the human population via seafood consumption, but this has not been documented. To test this the team will apply a non-targeted method to analyze breast milk from local mothers who have been surveyed to document their seafood consumption habits. Since these compounds resemble anthropogenic contaminants such as PBDEs, PCBs and PCDDs, they are expected to have similar toxic effects in both humans and wildlife. Brominated, natural compounds that are most abundant in dolphins have pyrrole backbones and their toxic impacts are poorly documented, and so, they will examine the potential toxicity of these compounds in the zebra fish model. Together, these efforts seek to identify source organisms and biosynthetic mechanisms of production, and also delineate modes of transfer to human populations. Broader Impacts. A more complete picture of the marine cycling of these compounds will enable us to assess how global change may impact sources -- something that up to now has been impossible. Furthermore, we will be in a position to assess the role that the burgeoning aquaculture industry and general seafood consumption plays in transferring these compounds to human populations. The Center organizational structure and ongoing collaborations with NOAA and local water resources management agencies will insure that the research approach and findings benefit from the input of individuals who dictate public health policy decisions, carry out environmental monitoring, and manage resources. The Center web portal (www.scohh.ucsd.edu) and personal outreach efforts will also keep the public informed and engaged in our research activities through interaction with K-12 classrooms and local communities. A special effort will be made to engage URM undergraduates in the Center's research through participation in the UCSD STARS program, the SIO NSF-sponsored SURF program and the UCSD-Howard University Pathways program. JOINT FUNDING BY NSF AND NIEHS: The original proposal on which this project is based (P01 ES021921-01) was submitted to the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS) in response to Funding Opportunity Announcement RFA-ES-11-012 , "Centers for Oceans Human Health (P01)?" an opportunity jointly sponsored by NSF. This project is cooperatively funded through separate awards from NSF and NIEHS.