Hidden costs of environmental pollutants: functional impacts on host-pathogen interactions

环境污染物的隐性成本：对宿主-病原体相互作用的功能影响

• 批准号: 2598068
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2598068
• 关键词: Hidden; costs; environmental; pollutants; functional

When predicting biological responses to global pollutants one of the greatest challenges is the potential of non-additive interactions between abiotic and biotic stressors. This is especially important in relation to chemical pollutants, one of the planetary boundaries that has yet to be reliably quantified. Freshwater habitats are recognised as the most affected global ecosystems by anthropogenic pollution. Indeed, freshwater fish face higher extinction rates than any other vertebrate group, and increasingly anthropogenic contaminants are implicated in this species loss. At the same time fish are highly vulnerable to infectious disease and the emerging threats of climate change. Parasites that cause infectious diseases comprise the dominant biomass within freshwaters and have the potential to influence any life-history trait (from metabolism to mortality) of individual hosts leading to population level effects. Parasites also represent the most significant threat to the sustainability and continued growth of aquaculture.As wild and farmed fish stocks face a multiple of anthropogenic stressors, it is essential that fish managers and the aquaculture industry understand how current and developing fish maintenance and production will respond to interactions between existing and impending stressors. Whilst the cumulative effects of multiple stressors may result in predictable additive responses, interactive effects of multiple stressors may drive complex synergisms (amplified effects) or antagonisms (reduced effects) that create "ecological surprises". Understanding how multiple stressor interactions impact individual parasite fitness is essential for identifying underlying drivers of fish-parasite interactions, but also for understanding the wider ecosystem level impacts of such pollution.Using the established stickleback-Gyrodactylus system, this studentship addresses knowledge gaps in the multi-stressor impacts of recalcitrant pollutants (microplastics, fibres, herbicides and antiparasitic treatments) on host-pathogen dynamics and food chain resilience. Specifically, they will: (i) investigate the interactions between pollutants (individually and combination) on host-pathogen-microbiome dynamics (behaviour, metabolism, transcriptomics, disease); (ii) assess the impact of environmentally polluted food chains on host-pathogen dynamics (for instance, how is fish resistance to infection impacted if they ingest Daphnia contaminated with microplastics); and (iii) working with our industrial stakeholder (BAM Bamboo Company) assess the impact of alternative plastic and fibre products to determine whether these also impact fish immunity and disease susceptibility. The student will be based in Cable's research lab (currently two PDRAs, one technician and nine PhD students), attending weekly supervisory meetings (with Exeter and Cefas supervisors linked remotely) and fortnightly lab meetings. Kille's research group will provide ecotoxicology expertise. The co-designed project means that the student will spend at least three months in Cefas (Weymouth) analysing bioinformatic data but also getting to know their larger cohort of (currently 80) PhD students who are based around the UK - they will also present their work each year at the annual Cefas PhD conference (held in Weymouth or Lowestoft) and give presentations to BAM Bamboo. In addition, the student will make regular visits to Wilson's lab - where they will be trained in physiology. CO2 levels in aquaculture facilities have been largely ignored despite having well controlled O2 levels. This is due to basic physicochemical properties meaning it is much more difficult to remove CO2 than it is to replace O2. High levels of CO2 encountered in aquaculture, however, do affect animal health and behaviour so controlling this, and other standard, environmental variables is critical for all our pollutant trials.

在预测生物对全球污染物的反应时，最大的挑战之一是非生物和生物压力源之间的非加性相互作用的潜力。这在化学污染物方面尤其重要，因为化学污染物是尚未可靠量化的地球边界之一。淡水栖息地被认为是受人为污染影响最严重的全球生态系统。事实上，淡水鱼比其他任何脊椎动物都面临着更高的灭绝率，而且越来越多的人为污染物与这种物种的消失有关。与此同时，鱼类极易受到传染病和新出现的气候变化威胁的影响。引起传染病的寄生虫构成淡水中的主要生物量，并有可能影响个体宿主的任何生活史特征（从新陈代谢到死亡率），从而导致种群水平的影响。寄生虫也是对水产养殖的可持续性和持续增长的最大威胁。由于野生和养殖鱼类种群面临多种人为压力，鱼类管理者和水产养殖业必须了解当前和发展中的鱼类维持和生产将如何应对现有和即将发生的压力之间的相互作用。虽然多种压力源的累积效应可能导致可预测的附加反应，但多种压力源的交互效应可能驱动复杂的协同效应（放大效应）或对抗效应（减少效应），从而产生“生态惊喜”。了解多种应激源相互作用如何影响个体寄生虫适应性，对于确定鱼-寄生虫相互作用的潜在驱动因素至关重要，而且对于理解这种污染对更广泛的生态系统水平的影响至关重要。利用已建立的棘鱼-旋毛虫系统，该学生解决了顽固性污染物（微塑料、纤维、除草剂和抗寄生虫处理）对宿主-病原体动力学和食物链弹性的多重应激源影响方面的知识空白。具体而言，他们将：(i)调查污染物之间（单独和组合）对宿主-病原体-微生物组动力学（行为、代谢、转录组学、疾病）的相互作用；评估受环境污染的食物链对宿主-病原体动态的影响（例如，如果鱼类摄入被微塑料污染的水蚤，对感染的抵抗力会受到怎样的影响）；（三）与我们的工业利益相关者（BAM竹业公司）合作，评估替代塑料和纤维产品的影响，以确定这些产品是否也会影响鱼类的免疫力和疾病易感性。该学生将在Cable的研究实验室工作（目前有两名PDRAs，一名技术员和九名博士生），参加每周的主管会议（与埃克塞特大学和Cefas的主管远程连接）和每两周的实验室会议。基尔的研究小组将提供生态毒理学专业知识。共同设计的项目意味着学生将在Cefas（韦茅斯）花至少三个月的时间分析生物信息学数据，同时也了解他们在英国各地的更大的博士生群体（目前有80名）-他们还将在每年的Cefas博士会议上展示他们的工作（在韦茅斯或Lowestoft举行），并向BAM Bamboo做报告。此外，学生将定期访问威尔逊的实验室，在那里他们将接受生理学方面的培训。尽管水产养殖设施的二氧化碳水平得到了很好的控制，但它们在很大程度上被忽视了。这是由于基本的物理化学性质，这意味着去除二氧化碳比取代O2要困难得多。然而，水产养殖中遇到的高水平二氧化碳确实会影响动物的健康和行为，因此控制这一以及其他标准环境变量对我们所有的污染物试验至关重要。