Greater Caribbean Center for Ciguatera Research

大加勒比雪卡毒研究中心（GCCCR）是一个为期五年的多机构努力，旨在了解雪卡毒鱼中毒（CFP）和影响其发生和扩散的环境因素。雪卡毒鱼中毒是地球仪最常见的由藻毒素传播的海产品疾病，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，他们会接触到毒素，从而经历CFP。从历史上看，CFP的爆发与温暖的水温和珊瑚礁的影响有关，预计这两种情况在未来几年和地理分布中都将增加。例如，尽管CFP是加勒比海、佛罗里达群岛和南佛罗里达的地方病，但CFP似乎正在向北扩展到墨西哥湾，最近在得克萨斯州/路易斯安那州海岸外的花卉花园海洋保护区发现有毒鱼类突出了这一点。GCCCR汇集了来自墨西哥湾和加勒比地区的研究人员团队来研究CFP。该中心将包括一个广泛的公众参与部分。该中心由国家科学基金会和国家环境卫生科学研究所共同支助，（亚）热带底栖甲藻属Gambierdiscus产生的甘比毒素是雪卡毒素的前体，当食草动物和食肉动物通过吃大型藻类直接或间接地消耗Gambierdiscus时，甘比毒素进入珊瑚礁食物网。这些前体分子通过生物累积、生物转化和生物放大作用转移到更高的营养级，直到它们到达许多商业和休闲渔业的目标掠食性长须鲸物种。GCCCR将支持三个相互关联的研究项目，以：（1）研究气候变化在CFP向更温和纬度地区的地理和时间扩展方面可能发挥的作用;（2）更好地了解某些甘比盘菌菌株产生的有毒代谢物，以及这些化合物随后向沿海/珊瑚礁食物网的转移和生物转化;研究暴露于这些毒素后对细胞代谢的遗传毒性和影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.