Ecotoxicological biomarker development and validation

本研究计划的总体目标是开发、验证和应用一套非致命性生物标志物，用于检测鱼类暴露于环境污染物及其影响。这将通过承担以下任务来实现：为应用创新和新的非致命生物标志物技术，生物电阻抗分析（BIA）制定一个特定物种的方案，以确定鱼类近似身体成分的快速评估，特别是脂质和能量密度。BIA技术是为人类健康应用而开发的，它可以即时测量鱼体内的电阻和电抗（或电容），然后用于量化体内的脂质和能量水平。最初的工作将集中于创建虹鳟鱼（Oncorhynchus mykiss）、日本medaka （Oryzias latipes）和佛罗里达旗鱼（Jordanella floridae）的校准方程。验证将涉及使用致死取样进行脂质和量热测量，以便为每个物种建立适当的数学模型。然后将采用非致死生物标志物技术，在实验室中评估有毒物质暴露于鱼类的生化和生物能量影响。改变的血液酶生物标记物和生物能量学之间的相关性将与暴露后的特定剂量和时间有关。将利用在不同污染水平地区饲养的网箱鱼种群进行现场生物监测，以测量一段时间内解毒和适应的生物能量成本。这一新的信息将导致对污染物对鱼类种群生理和健康影响的进一步了解。最后，将为更广泛的本地淡水鱼种类建立校正方程，以便进行鱼类群落生物能量研究。因此，该研究项目将加强对野生和实验室环境下鱼类状况的快速评估，并允许更精确地了解污染物暴露在不同时空尺度上的生物能量学。这种非致命性BIA技术的开发和验证将提高我们管理重要鱼类种群的能力，造福所有加拿大人。

The overall objective of this research program is to develop, validate and apply a suite of non-lethal biomarkers of exposure to, and effects of, environmental contaminants in fish. This will be achieved by the undertaking the following tasks: Develop a species specific protocol for applying the innovative and new non-lethal biomarker technique, bioeletrical impedance analysis (BIA), to determining a rapid assessment of fish proximate body composition, specifically lipid and energy density. The BIA technique, which was developed for human health applications, instantaneously measures the resistance and reactance (or capacitance) along the body of the fish, which is then used to quantify body lipid and energy levels. Initial work will focus on creating calibration equations for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) and Florida flagfish (Jordanella floridae). Validation will involve lipid and calorimetric measurements to be made using lethal sampling to develop appropriate mathematical models for each species. Application of non-lethal biomarker techniques will then be undertaken to assess the biochemical and bioenergetic impacts of toxicant exposure to fish in the laboratory. Correlations between altered blood enzyme biomarkers and bioenergetics will be made in relation to specific doses and time following exposure. Field biomonitoring using caged-fish populations held in regions of varying contaminant levels will be done to measure the bioenergetic costs of detoxification and acclimation over time. This novel information will result in increased understanding of the impacts of contaminants on the physiology and health of fish populations. Finally, calibration equations for a wider range of local freshwater fish species will be created to permit fish community bioenergetic studies to be undertaken. Thus, this research program will enhance efforts to rapidly assess condition of fish species in the wild as well as in laboratory situtations, and to permit more precise understanding of the bioenergetics of contaminant exposure on different spatial and temporal scales. Development and validation of this non-lethal BIA technique will increase our ability to manage important fish populaions for the benefit of all Canadians.