CAREER: PFAS-BioAction: Innovative treatment of municipal solid waste organics through insect-mediated bioprocessing and sequestration of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances

职业：PFAS-BioAction：通过昆虫介导的生物加工和多氟烷基物质和全氟烷基物质的封存对城市固体废物有机物进行创新处理

• 批准号: 2145613
• 负责人: Heather Bischel
• 金额: $ 53万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2145613&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; PFAS; BioAction; Innovative; treatment

Food and organic wastes are the largest component of municipal solid waste in landfills. In 2018, over 30 million tons of food and organic wastes were disposed of in landfills. The management of landfilled organic wastes is challenging as it often requires the design and integration of treatment trains to control odor emissions and the release of toxic leachates and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Insect mediated bioconversion (IMB) has emerged as a promising and sustainable alternative to convert food/organic wastes to useful products. The basic premise of IMB is that food/organic wastes can be used as substrates to grow insects which can then be processed into valuable products including animal feed, biofuels, and compost or higher-value soil amendments. The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to explore the use of IMB to sequester and degrade persistent and toxic contaminants with an initial focus on poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from landfilled organic wastes. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator proposes to use the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as model systems to investigate how PFAS accumulate in insects and the extent of PFAS degradation by enzymes in insect guts. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the development of IMB as a sustainable treatment technology for PFAS-contaminated landfilled organic wastes. Further benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of a graduate student and an undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis.Insect-mediated bioconversion (IMB) has emerged as a promising, scalable, and cost-effective platform to generate valuable products from organic waste streams. However, little is known about the potential of IMB to treat and degrade persistent and toxic contaminants such as PFAS that are often present in landfilled organic wastes. This CAREER project proposes to investigate the bioaccumulation and biotransformation of PFAS by black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), a family of insects with great potential to convert organic wastes to useful products due to their high lipids and protein contents. Two key goals of the research are to: 1) probe PFAS interactions with model lipids and proteins to unravel the mechanisms of PFAS bioaccumulation in insect tissues and 2) evaluate the extents of PFAS bioaccumulation, metabolism, and bioconversion by BSFL. To advance these goals, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to carry out an integrated experimental and modeling research program that will combine 1) liquid-chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) with targeted analysis to evaluate the abundance and diversity of PFAS in diverted food waste, finished compost, and landfill leachate, 2) atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to predict the binding affinities of PFAS to proteins using human serum albumin as model system, 3) ex vivo assays to measure PFAS bioaccumulation in the protein and lipid fractions of BSFL tissue homogenates, and 4) experimental assays to measure and characterize PFAS bioaccumulation and biotransformation in the tissues of BSFL. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the development and implementation of IMB as an efficient and cost-effective PFAS remediation technology. To implement the educational and training goals of this CAREER project, the PI will revise one of her undergraduate courses at UC-Davis to include a CURES (course-based undergraduate research experiences) module that will engage teams of three to four students through a complete inquiry cycle, beginning with the development of a research question and a testable hypothesis linked to the bioaccumulation of contaminants such as PFAS. In addition, the PI plans to actively engage with engineering educators and professionals to disseminate educational resources, share key research findings from her CAREER project, and promote meaningful dialogue around science-based solutions for achieving a zero-waste future.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.

食物和有机废物是垃圾填埋场中城市固体废物的最大组成部分。2018年，3000多万吨食品和有机垃圾被填埋。垃圾填埋有机废物的管理具有挑战性，因为它往往需要设计和整合处理列车，以控制气味排放和有毒渗滤液以及二氧化碳和甲烷等温室气体的排放。昆虫介导的生物转化(IMB)已成为将食物/有机废物转化为有用产品的一种有前途的、可持续的替代方案。IMB的基本前提是，食物/有机废物可以用作种植昆虫的基质，然后可以加工成有价值的产品，包括动物饲料、生物燃料、堆肥或更高价值的土壤改良剂。这个职业项目的总体目标是探索使用IMB来隔离和降解持久性和有毒污染物，最初的重点是从填埋的有机废物中提取多氟烷基物质和全氟烷基物质(PFAS)。为了推进这一目标，首席调查员建议使用黑兵蝇幼虫(BSFL)作为模型系统，研究全氟辛烷磺酸如何在昆虫体内积累，以及全氟辛烷磺酸在昆虫肠道中被酶降解的程度。该项目的成功完成将使社会受益，因为它将产生新的基础知识，以推动IMB作为全氟辛烷磺酸污染的填埋有机废物的可持续处理技术的发展。学生教育和培训将进一步造福社会，包括对加州大学戴维斯分校的一名研究生和一名本科生进行指导。INSECT-Mediated BioConvert(IMB)已经成为一个有前途的、可扩展的、具有成本效益的平台，可以从有机废物流中产生有价值的产品。然而，人们对IMB处理和降解持久性和有毒污染物的潜力知之甚少，这些污染物通常存在于垃圾填埋场的有机废物中。这项职业项目计划研究黑兵蝇幼虫(BSFL)对全氟辛烷磺酸的生物积累和生物转化。黑兵蝇幼虫是一类具有将有机废物转化为有用产品的巨大潜力的昆虫，因为它们的高脂和蛋白质含量。这项研究的两个主要目的是：1)探索PFAS与模型脂和蛋白质的相互作用，以揭示PFAS在昆虫组织中的生物积累机制；2)评估BSFL对PFAS的生物积累、代谢和生物转化的程度。为了推进这些目标，首席调查员(PI)建议开展一项集成的实验和建模研究计划，该计划将结合1)液相色谱四极杆飞行时间质谱仪(LC-QTOF-MS)与目标分析，以评估分流的食物垃圾、成品堆肥和垃圾渗滤液中PFAS的丰度和多样性，2)原子分子动力学(MD)模拟，以人血清白蛋白为模型系统预测PFAS与蛋白质的结合亲和力，3)体外实验，以测量PFAS在BSFL组织匀浆的蛋白质和脂肪部分中的生物累积，4)测定和表征PFAS在BSFL组织中的生物积累和生物转化的实验方法。这一项目的成功完成有可能产生变革性的影响，通过产生新的基本知识来推动作为一种有效和具有成本效益的PFAS补救技术的IMB的开发和实施。为了实现这个职业项目的教育和培训目标，PI将修改她在加州大学戴维斯分校的一门本科课程，包括一个CURES(基于课程的本科研究经验)模块，该模块将让三到四个学生组成的团队完成一个完整的调查周期，从开发与全氟辛烷磺酸等污染物的生物积累有关的研究问题和可检验的假设开始。此外，PI计划积极与工程教育者和专业人员合作，传播教育资源，分享她职业项目的关键研究成果，并促进围绕实现零浪费未来的基于科学的解决方案的有意义的对话。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。