Genomic, transcriptomic and culture-based assessment of UV irradiation effects on phytoplankton viability: applications for ballast water treatment systems

美国海岸警卫队（USCG）最近推出了严格的压载水处理法规，以尽量减少或消除通过压载水运输引入水生入侵物种的风险。紫外线（UV）光照射是压载水处理系统（BWTS）中用于消除可能对人类和环境具有侵入性和有害的水生物种的有用技术。紫外线损伤DNA并阻止细胞复制，但USCG协议中规定的重要染色方法可能无法检测到浮游植物中的紫外线损伤。由于对基于文化的物种偏见（即，并非所有物种都能生长）。快速和准确的检测，以确定细胞的紫外线损伤超过恢复是至关重要的接受紫外线为基础的BWTS的浮游植物。因此，我们建议开发高通量的浮游植物培养技术和联合收割机，他们与基因组/转录组学的方法来量化DNA损伤和相关的基因转录的破坏在关键功能基因位点的浮游植物群落中的一系列基因功能类通常发现在压载水Trojan Technologies（特洛伊），总部设在安大略伦敦，加拿大是世界领先的水处理公司之一。特洛伊公司提供的产品和服务在使水处理过程的各个阶段更加有效，高效和可持续方面发挥着至关重要的作用，从住宅到工业，市政和海洋应用。紫外线杀菌技术在BWTS上的应用代表了一个超过150亿美元的潜在全球市场。我们将与Trojan合作开发高通量培养方案，结合先进的元基因组和元转录组技术，以验证BWTS的紫外线灭菌，从而在全球范围内扩大Trojan的市场，并为航运业提供实用，安全和具有成本效益的压载水灭菌选择。

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) recently introduced stringent regulations for the treatment of ballastwater to minimize or eliminate the risk of the introduction of aquatic invasive species via ballast watertransport. Ultra-violet (UV) light irradiation is a useful technology in ballast water treatment systems (BWTSs)for eliminating aquatic species which could be invasive and harmful to humans and the environment. UVdamages DNA and prevents cellular replication, but the vital stain methods mandated in the USCG protocolmay not detect UV damage in phytoplankton. Alternative culture-based measures of reproductive capacity areyet to be approved due to concerns over culture-based species biases (i.e., not all species may grow). Rapid andaccurate assays to identify cells that are UV damaged beyond recovery are critical for the acceptance ofUV-based BWTSs for phytoplankton. Hence we propose to develop high-throughput phytoplankton culturetechnologies and combine them with genomic/transcriptomic approaches to quantify DNA damage and theassociated disruption of gene transcription at key functional gene loci across a range of gene function classes inthe phytoplankton community typically found in ballast water.Trojan Technologies (Trojan), headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada is one of the world's leading watertreatment companies. The products and services provided by Trojan companies play vital roles in makingvarious stages of the water treatment process more effective, efficient and sustainable, ranging from residentialto industrial, municipal and marine applications. The application of UV sterilization technology to BWTSsrepresents a potential global market of >$15 billion (USD). We will partner with Trojan to develop thehigh-throughput culture protocols in concert with advanced meta-genomic and meta-transcriptomic technologyto validate UV sterilization for BWTSs and thus expand Trojan's market on a global scale and provide theshipping industry with a practical, safe and cost-effective ballast water sterilization option.