CAREER: The Microbiology of Climate Change Disasters: Microbiome-Contaminant Interactions After Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

职业：气候变化灾难的微生物学：荒地与城市界面火灾后微生物组与污染物的相互作用

• 批准号: 2341016
• 负责人: Christopher Olivares Martinez
• 金额: $ 55.98万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-15 至 2028-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341016&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Microbiology; Climate; Change; Disasters

Wildfires are causing significant destruction in the United States and worldwide including damages to drinking water systems at the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where humans and their built environment meet and interact with wildland vegetation. During WUI wildfires, the plastic components of drinking water pipes and distribution networks can undergo combustion and pyrolysis with a subsequent release of toxic volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, styrene, and vinyl chloride that can contaminate drinking water and promote the growth of microorganisms in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) including harmful pathogens. This poses new concerns about drinking water quality and safety following wildfires that have not been addressed in previous studies. The overarching goal of this CAREER proposal is to investigate the impacts of VOCs released following WUI fires on the drinking water microbiome and water quality in DWDS. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigator proposes to evaluate the hypothesis that 1) the release and continued presence of high concentrations of VOCs in DWDS following wildfires will consume the residual disinfectant in these systems and 2) the remaining VOCs will be metabolized to support the growth of microorganisms present in tap water including water-borne pathogens such as Legionella spp. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to support the design, development, and implementation of solutions to mitigate and minimize the impact of WUI fires on drinking water quality and safety. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of one graduate student and one undergraduate student at the University of California, Irvine.As wildfires become more frequent and severe in the United States and worldwide due to climate change, there is an urgent and critical need for new fundamental knowledge to understand and mitigate the adverse impact of wildfires on drinking water quality and distribution systems at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Recent studies have established that the combustion, pyrolysis, and thermal degradation of plastic infrastructure during WUI wildfires release high concentrations of toxic VOCs (e.g., benzene, vinyl chloride) that will continue to contaminate drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) and tap water for several months following these fires. In addition, the released VOCs will consume the residual disinfectant in DWDS, and the remaining VOCs can be metabolized by microorganisms present in tap water, including pathogens that have genetic potential for VOC degradation such as Legionella spp. This CAREER project will evaluate the impact of VOCs released following WUI fires on the drinking water microbiome and tap water quality in DWDS. The specific objectives of the research are to 1) investigate the effect and impact of environmental factors (e.g., drinking water source composition and residual disinfectant/VOC concentrations) and flushing protocols (e.g., stagnation and sequential flushing) on microbial growth in DWDS and tap water following WUI fires; 2) evaluate the role of biofilms in mediating VOC sorption and microbial transformations in DWDS and tap water after WUI fires; and 3) use and leverage multi omics (genomics and metabolomics) to characterize and unravel changes in the structure and function of microbiomes in DWDS and tap water following WUI fires. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new fundamental knowledge to advance the design and development of solutions to mitigate and minimize the impact of WUI fires on drinking water quality and safety. To implement the educational and outreach activities of this CAREER project, the Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to leverage existing programs and resources at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to develop English/Spanish bilingual environmental/climate change curricula in partnership with a statewide K-12 teacher network. In addition, the PI proposes to 1) partner with local artists and researchers to co-create a community science project on tap water quality and 2) integrate the research findings from this CAREER project into existing UCI courses devoted to Bioremediation and Microorganisms and Climate Change.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.

野火正在美国和世界范围内造成重大破坏，包括对荒地-城市界面(WUI)的饮用水系统的破坏，在那里，人类及其建造的环境与荒地植被相遇并相互作用。在WUI野火期间，饮用水管道和管网的塑料部件可能会发生燃烧和热解，随后释放出有毒的挥发性有机化合物(VOC)，如苯、甲苯、苯乙烯和氯乙烯，这些化学物质会污染饮用水，并促进饮用水分配系统(DWDS)中的微生物(包括有害病原体)的生长。在之前的研究中没有解决的野火之后，这引发了对饮用水质量和安全的新担忧。这份职业计划的首要目标是调查WUI火灾后释放的VOCs对DWDS饮用水微生物群和水质的影响。为了推进这一目标，首席调查员建议评估以下假设：1)野火后释放并持续存在于DWDS中的高浓度VOCs将消耗这些系统中的残留消毒剂；2)剩余VOCs将被新陈代谢，以支持自来水中存在的微生物的生长，包括水媒病原体，如军团菌。该项目的成功完成将通过产生新的基础知识来支持设计、开发和实施解决方案，以减轻和最大限度地减少WUI火灾对饮用水质量和安全的影响，从而造福社会。通过学生教育和培训将获得更多的社会利益，包括指导加州大学欧文分校的一名研究生和一名本科生。由于气候变化，美国和世界各地的野火变得更加频繁和严重，迫切需要新的基础知识来了解和减轻野火对饮用水质量和荒地-城市界面(WUI)的供水系统的不利影响。最近的研究表明，WUI野火期间塑料基础设施的燃烧、热解和热降解释放出高浓度的有毒VOCs(如苯、氯乙烯)，这些VOCs将在火灾发生后的几个月内继续污染饮用水分配系统(DWDS)和自来水。此外，释放的VOCs将消耗DWDS中的残留消毒剂，而剩余的VOCs可被自来水中存在的微生物代谢，包括具有VOC降解遗传潜力的病原体，如军团菌。这个职业项目将评估WUI火灾后释放的VOCs对DWDS饮用水微生物群和自来水水质的影响。研究的具体目的是1)调查环境因素(如饮用水水源组成和残余消毒剂/挥发性有机化合物的浓度)和冲洗方式(如停滞和顺序冲洗)对WUI火灾后DWDS和自来水中微生物生长的影响和影响；2)评估生物膜在调节WUI火灾后DWDS和自来水中VOC的吸附和微生物转化中的作用；以及3)利用多组学(基因组和代谢组学)来表征和揭示WUI火灾后DWDS和自来水中微生物的结构和功能的变化。该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进解决方案的设计和开发，以减轻和最大限度地减少WUI火灾对饮用水质量和安全的影响。为了实施这一职业项目的教育和推广活动，首席调查员(PI)建议利用加州大学欧文分校(UCI)的现有方案和资源，与全州K-12教师网络合作，开发英语/西班牙语环境/气候变化双语课程。此外，PI建议1)与当地艺术家和研究人员合作，共同创建一个关于自来水水质的社区科学项目，以及2)将这一职业项目的研究成果整合到UCI现有的致力于生物修复、微生物和气候变化的课程中。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。