Greater Caribbean Center for Ciguatera Research

大加勒比雪卡特拉研究中心(GCCCR)是一项为期五年的多机构努力，旨在了解雪卡特拉鱼中毒(CFP)及其影响其发生和扩大的环境因素。雪卡特拉鱼中毒是全球最常见的藻毒素传播的海鲜疾病，每年影响数万人。CFP是由食用受雪卡毒素(CTX)污染的海鲜(主要是珊瑚鱼)引起的。当人们随后食用受污染的鱼时，他们会暴露在毒素中，从而体验到CFP。从历史上看，CFP疫情与暖水温度和珊瑚礁影响有关，预计这两种情况在未来几年和地理分布上都会增加。例如，虽然CFP是加勒比海、佛罗里达群岛和南佛罗里达的地方性疾病，但CFP似乎正在向北扩展到墨西哥湾，最近在德克萨斯州/路易斯安那州海岸外的花园海洋保护区发现了有毒鱼类。GCCCR汇集了来自墨西哥湾和加勒比海地区的一组研究人员，以研究CFP。该中心将包括广泛的公众参与部分。该中心由NSF和国家环境健康科学研究所(NIEHS)共同支持。冈比亚毒素是(亚)热带底栖恐鞭毛虫属冈比亚鞭毛虫产生的雪卡毒素的前体，当草食动物和有害动物通过捕食大型藻类直接或间接食用冈比亚鱼时，冈比亚毒素进入珊瑚礁食物网。这些前体分子通过生物积累、生物转化和生物放大作用转移到更高的营养水平，直到它们到达许多商业和休闲渔业的目标捕食性鱼种。GCCCR将支持三个相互关联的研究项目：1)研究气候变化可能在CFP在地理和时间上扩展到更温和的纬度中所起的作用；2)更好地了解某些冈比亚鱼菌株产生的有毒代谢物，以及这些化合物随后转移和生物转化为海岸/珊瑚礁食物网；以及3)研究这些毒素暴露后的遗传毒性和对细胞新陈代谢的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Greater Caribbean Center for Ciguatera Research (GCCCR) is a five-year, multi-institutional effort aimed at understanding Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) and environmental factors influencing its occurrence and expansion. Ciguatera fish poisoning is the most common form of phycotoxin-borne seafood illness across the globe, affecting tens of thousands of people annually. CFP is caused by the consumption of seafood (primarily reef fish) contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTX). When people subsequently consume the contaminated fish, they are exposed to the toxins, thereby experiencing CFP. Historically, CFP outbreaks have been linked with warm water temperatures and coral reef impacts, both of which are expected to increase in coming years and in geographic distribution. For example, although CFP is endemic to the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, and South Florida, CFP appears to be expanding northwards into the Gulf of Mexico, highlighted by the recent identification of toxic fish in the Flower Garden Marine Sanctuary off of the Texas/Louisiana coast. The GCCCR brings together a team of researchers from across the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean region to study CFP. The Center will include an extensive public engagement component. The Center is jointly supported by NSF and by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).Gambiertoxins, precursors of ciguatoxins produced by the (sub)tropical benthic dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus, enter reef food webs when herbivores and detritivores consume Gambierdiscus directly or indirectly by grazing on macroalgae. These precursor molecules are transferred to higher trophic levels by bioaccumulation, bioconversion and biomagnification until they reach predatory finfish species that are targeted in many commercial and recreational fisheries. The GCCCR will support three interrelated research projects to 1) examine the role climate change may play in the geographic and temporal expansion of CFP into more temperate latitudes; 2) obtain a better understanding of the toxic metabolites produced by certain Gambierdiscus strains, and the subsequent transfer and biotransformation of these compounds into coastal/reef food webs; and 3) study the genotoxicity and impacts on cellular metabolism caused by these toxins upon exposure.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.