In Situ Sensing System for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Biological To

描述(由申请人提供) 有害藻华(HABS)在全世界水资源中的出现越来越多，这令环境和卫生当局感到震惊，因为它们可能释放生物毒素，特别是蓝藻HAB产生的微囊藻毒素。微囊藻毒素是已知的最强的天然毒素之一。暴露于微囊藻毒素会影响野生动物种群的数量和多样性，导致毒素在鱼类和贝类组织中的生物积累，并通过食物链间接影响其他生物，最终影响人类。 及早检测或就地/遥感毒素暴发的方法将为减少/防止暴露于赤潮释放的毒素提供一个主要机制。目前的监测方法采用现场采样，然后在实验室内对赤潮毒素进行分析(直接显微观察)，这种方法既不可持续，也不实用，无法满足巨大的时空测量需求。或者，基于从卫星图像识别标准颜色产品的遥感方法(间接宏观观测)对于监测一般的藻华活动是有用的。然而，这种颜色产物既不是赤潮所特有的，也不一定是毒素释放的标志。因此，重要的是以更可持续和更迅速的方式确定藻类水华的有毒/无毒性质，甚至确定赤潮毒素的种类。 在研究人员努力寻找两种不同观测方法的互补方法时，他们提议使用创新的无线传感器网络在现场实时监测微囊藻毒素的水平。由于缺乏关于微囊藻毒素在适合实际现场应用的微型传感器上的检测的知识，因此很少有人尝试实施原位检测的想法。因此，这项研究提供了：1)监测赤潮活动期间毒素释放的新方法；2)在痕量水平上定量和鉴定各种微囊藻毒素的新思路；3)实现适合现场应用的传感器网络的集成方法。研究人员的目标是：1)开创微囊藻毒素选择性光学传感器，在痕量水平上检测多个微囊藻毒素；2)探索集成的芯片级传感节点，自动执行传感协议；3)开发无线传感器网络，在传感节点和远程管理机构之间传递检测数据和操作命令。最终，他们将在五大湖一个潜在的HAB地点部署无线传感器网络，以监测微囊藻毒素的时空变化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in water resources worldwide is alarming the environmental and health authorities because of their potential to release biological toxins, in particular, microcystins produced from cyanobacterial HABs. Microcystins are among the most powerful natural poisons known. Exposure to microcystins can affect the number and diversity of wild animal populations, cause bioaccumulation of toxins in the tissues of fish and shellfish, and indirectly affect other organisms through the food chain and eventually humans. Methodologies for early detection or in-situ/remote sensing of outbreaks of the toxins would provide a major mechanism for reducing/preventing exposures to the toxins released by HABs. Current monitoring methods employing on-site sampling followed by in-lab analysis of HAB toxins (direct micro-observation) are neither sustainable nor practical to meet the vast spatial and temporal measuring need. Alternatively, remote sensing approaches based on identifying standard color products from satellite images (indirect macro-observation) are useful for monitoring general algal bloom activities. However, such color products are neither specific to HABs nor necessarily indicative of toxin release. As a result, it is important to determine the toxic/non-toxic nature of algal blooms and even the species of HAB toxins in a more sustainable and responsive manner. In the investigators efforts to find a complementary approach to the two different observing methods, they propose to real-time monitor the level of microcystins in-situ using an innovative wireless sensor network. Due to the lack of knowledge regarding assays of microcystins on a microscale sensor suitable for real field applications, there have been few attempts to implement the in-situ sensing idea. As a result, this study provides: 1) novel approaches to monitor toxin release during HAB activities, 2) novel ideas to quantify and qualify various microcystins at trace levels, and 3) integrated ways to realize the sensor network suitable for field applications. The investigators aim at 1) pioneering a microcystin-selective optical sensor to detect multiple microcystins at trace levels, 2) exploring an integrated chip-scale sensing node to automatically execute the sensing protocol, and 3) developing a wireless sensor network to communicate assay data and operation command between sensing nodes and remote authorities. Eventually, they will deploy the wireless sensor network in a potential HAB site in Great Lakes to monitor the spatial and temporal variation of microcystins.