Research Core 2

INTEGRATION

Understanding the fate and response of ciguatoxin exposure in marine species to better predict and prevent ciguatera risk.

Research Aims

Caribbean doctor fish

Specific Aim 1:

Evaluate the uptake, bioaccumulation and depuration rates of ciguatoxins into the marine food web

Caribbean doctor fish

Culture maintenance of neuroblastoma cells used for quantification of toxicity in fish and algae extracts.

Specific Aim 2:

Evaluate ciguatoxin metabolism and isolate and characterize toxin metabolites from marine organisms to determine pathways and toxicity mechanisms

Culture maintenance of neuroblastoma cells used for quantification of toxicity in fish and algae extracts.

Methanol evaporation for ciguatoxin purification.

Specific Aim 3:

Evaluate the physiological mechanisms of acute and sub-lethal ciguatoxin exposure using cell based models and in vivo fish models

Methanol evaporation for ciguatoxin purification.

Graduate student, Sean Collins, setting up experimental chambers for ciguatoxin exposure experiment in a model fish species.

Specific Aim 4:

Examine biomarkers of exposure using cellular and vertebrate models to better understand pathways of toxicity and to identify targets for development of biosensors & diagnostics

Graduate student, Sean Collins, setting up experimental chambers for ciguatoxin exposure experiment in a model fish species.

Project Lead

Alison Robertson, Ph.D.

University of South Alabama
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Research Project 2 Lead
[email protected]

Robertson has expertise in biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, risk assessment, natural product chemistry, and mass spectrometry. She leads research on the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of toxicity and resistance across organisms and food webs. Robertson's research aims to characterize and understand the meta-metabolome of epi-benthic algal communities, structurally elucidate and evaluate toxicological mechanisms and pathways of metabolite formation and biomarker upregulation across marine organisms, and develop methods and reference materials to evaluate toxicity and ecological role. Robertson is also the research director of NSF CiguaPIRE, a large trans-ocean partnership in ciguatera research and is heavily engaged in bidirectional education and stakeholder linked research initiatives.

Learn More...ecotoxiclologylab.org