EAPSI: Development of a Novel Method for Monitoring Marine Ecosystem Health Using Red Carotenoid Coloration of Copepods Under Current and Projected CO2 Levels

水生污染物通过抑制正常生长和发育所必需的关键生理过程而影响海洋动物。此外，预计的气候变化可能加剧现有压力对海洋生态系统健康的影响。与国立台湾师范大学海洋生物生理学和气候扰动助理教授曾永哲博士合作，该项目将研究在当前和预测的CO2水平下重金属毒性对具有鲜红色类胡萝卜素颜色的丰富海洋桡足类动物健康的影响。红色类胡萝卜素的产生对环境胁迫敏感，因此，桡足类产生红色色素的能力将作为环境污染物诱导的生理应激的量度。使用类胡萝卜素的颜色作为环境压力的代理将提供一个简单的，廉价的，和海洋生态系统健康的信息量。这项研究的结果可能会给社会带来很大的好处，因为它提供了一种监测世界健康的新方法。了解细胞对环境压力的反应如何表现在海洋动物的表型中，将大大提高我们监测海洋生态系统健康的能力。台湾东海岸沿着分布着丰富的海洋桡足类虎足类，其生态毒理学研究已相当深入。然而，利用其鲜红色类胡萝卜素作为环境压力的生物标志物在很大程度上尚未得到探索。桡足类将在当前或升高的CO2水平下暴露于亚致死剂量的铜，进行96小时急性毒性试验。分析线粒体功能、铜含量和类胡萝卜素含量，并与对照组进行比较。随着铜浓度的增加，桡足类的着色预计将从丰富的红色减少到暗橙黄色。预计在CO2浓度升高的条件下，这种影响会大大增加。这个NSF EAPSI奖支持美国研究生的研究，并与台湾科技部合作资助。

Aquatic pollutants affect marine animals by inhibiting key physiological processes necessary for normal growth and development. Moreover, projected climate changes may exacerbate the effects of existing stressors on marine ecosystem health. In collaboration with Dr. Yung-Che Tseng, assistant professor of marine organismal physiology and climate perturbation at National Taiwan Normal University, this project will examine the effects of heavy metal toxicity under current and projected CO2 levels on the health of an abundant marine copepod that has bright red carotenoid coloration. Production of red carotenoids is sensitive to environmental stressors, thus, the ability copepods to produce red pigments will serve as a measure of physiological stress induced by environment pollutants. Using carotenoid color as a proxy for environmental stress will provide a simple, inexpensive, and informative measure of marine ecosystem health. The outcome of the proposed research may greatly benefit society by providing a novel way to monitor the health of the world?s oceans.Understanding how cellular responses to environmental stressors manifest in the phenotypes of marine animals will greatly increase our capacity to monitor marine ecosystem health. The marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus is abundant along the Eastern Coast of Taiwan and has been well studied in ecotoxicology. However, the use of its bright red carotenoid coloration as a biomarker for environmental stress has largely been unexplored. Copepods will be exposed to sub-lethal doses of copper under current or elevated CO2 levels in a 96-h acute toxicity test. Mitochondrial function, copper content and carotenoid content will be analyzed and compared to control groups. As copper concentrations increase copepod coloration is expected to decrease from a rich red color to a dull orange-yellow color. This effect is expected to increase greatly under elevated CO2 conditions. This NSF EAPSI award supports the research of a U.S. graduate student and is funded in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.