Collaborative research: Mechanisms of reproductive, developmental, and early life stage impacts of marine oil spills in a vertebrate sentinel model

海洋石油泄漏可能会向环境中释放大量持续存在的有毒化学物质，许多大型活跃油田靠近人口稠密的沿海人口，通过清理和补救工作、通过接触受欢迎度假区的含油媒体以及通过食物链，人类可能会暴露在这些地区。尽管近年来在人口稠密地区附近发生了许多大规模的石油泄漏事件，也有一些研究测试了对人类的急性和心理影响，但人们对石油泄漏对生殖、发育、生长和表现等重要生物过程的中长期健康影响知之甚少。在这个项目中，来自加州大学戴维斯分校、路易斯安那州立大学农业中心、路易斯安那州立大学和农工学院的一个研究小组将探索深水地平线漏油事件的生物影响，以研究这种影响。他们将把墨西哥湾千里鱼作为前哨动物模型，因为它们的生命周期相对较短，有充足的分子和生理工具箱，它们在当地居住，在野外接触过这一事件，因此它们提供了一个仔细联系因果关系的机会，而且它们易于进行实验室和实地研究，提供了在现实世界中验证预测结果的机会。鱼类是人类健康和发展的既定模型，而千里鱼特别适合研究DWH漏油事件的后果，特别是因为它们是墨西哥湾地区直接受到漏油事件影响的大量当地和非迁徙居民。该团队已经有证据表明，剑鱼接触到了这一事件，并受到了影响。现在他们的目标是测试脊椎动物生命周期不同敏感阶段的漏油影响，包括跨越世代的影响，表征脊椎动物因漏油而风险的空间和时间程度，并测试个体和种群遗传变异对石油污染敏感性的影响。更广泛的影响：我们对中长期碳氢化合物暴露对健康的影响的理解仍然明显不足。这项研究将提供对脊椎动物模型中漏油影响的风险和机制的洞察，提供预测或反映受损生物过程的生物标志物，并加速发现遗传和生理风险因素。该项目将支持博士生和本科生研究人员的培训。来自路易斯安那州立大学和加州大学戴维斯分校的博士生将参加环境管理员项目，该项目将在一个学年内将研究生与当地高中的学生配对，在此期间，参与者将在指导下完成一个独立研究项目，该项目将作为科学海报在当地的科学博览会上展示。路易斯安那州立大学的团队还将在海洋骚动上展示这些海报和其他总结的研究成果，这是路易斯安那州海洋赠款学院计划组织的年度活动，吸引了数千名当地K-8学生。鉴于路易斯安那州的社会经济状况，不同的小学和本科生团体将参与这些外展工作。此外，由霍华德·休斯医学院(LSU)、路易斯安那州少数族裔参与联盟(LSU)和农业大使计划(UC Davis)提供的项目将支持历史上在科学领域代表性不足的群体参与本科生研究。NSF和NIEHS的联合资助：该项目所依据的原始提案(R01 ES021934-01)已提交给国家环境卫生科学研究所(NIH/NIEHS)，以回应由NSF联合赞助的资助机会公告RFA-ES-11-013“海洋、五大湖与人类健康(R01)”。该项目由NSF和NIEHS通过单独的奖项提供合作资金。

Marine oil spills can release large volumes of persistently toxic chemicals into the environment, and many large active oil fields are in close proximity to high-density coastal human populations where humans can be exposed through clean-up and remediation efforts, through contact with oiled media in popular vacation areas, and through the food chain. Despite many large oil spills in recent years close to populated regions, and a few studies testing for acute and psychological impacts in humans, remarkably little is known of the medium and long-term health impacts of oil spills on important biological processes such as reproduction, development, growth, and performance. In this project, a research team from the University of California at Davis, the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the Louisiana State University and A & M College will explore the biological impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to study such effects. They will use the Gulf killifish as a sentinel animal model because they offer an opportunity to carefully link cause with effect by virtue of their relatively short life cycle, a well-provisioned molecular and physiological toolkit, their local residence and well-documented exposure to the event in the field, and because they are tractable for laboratory and field studies providing an opportunity to verify predicted effects in the real world. Fish are established models for human health and development, and killifish are particularly appropriate for studying consequences of the DWH oil spill specifically because they are abundant, local, and non-migratory residents of Gulf of Mexico regions directly affected by the spill event. The team already has evidence that killifish were exposed and affected by the event. Now their objectives are to test for oil spill effects at various sensitive stages of the vertebrate life cycle including effects that span generations, to characterize the spatial and temporal extent of vertebrate risk from the spill, and to test for the influence of individual and population genetic variation on sensitivity to oil pollution. Broader Impacts: There remains a clear deficiency in our understanding of health effects from hydrocarbon exposures that emerge over the medium and long term. This research will offer insight into risk and mechanisms of oil spill impacts in a vertebrate model, offer biomarkers predictive or reflective of impaired biological processes, and accelerate the discovery of genetic and physiological risk factors. The project will support the training of PhD students and undergraduate researchers. PhD students from both LSU and UC-Davis will participate in EnvironMentors, a program that pairs graduate students with students from local high schools for an academic year, during which time participants are guided in the completion of an independent research project to be presented as a scientific poster at a local science fair. The LSU group will also present these posters and other summarized research results at Ocean Commotion, a yearly event organized by the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, which attract thousands of local K-8 students. Given the socio-economical landscape of Louisiana, a diverse elementary school and undergraduate student body will be engaged by these outreach efforts. Furthermore, undergraduate research participation of groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences will be supported through programs offered by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (LSU), the Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LSU), and Aggie Ambassadors program (UC Davis). JOINT FUNDING BY NSF AND NIEHS: The original proposal on which this project is based (R01 ES021934-01) was submitted to the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS) in response to Funding Opportunity Announcement RFA-ES-11-013 , "Oceans, Great Lakes and Human Health (R01)", an opportunity jointly sponsored by NSF. This project is cooperatively funded through separate awards from NSF and NIEHS.