Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms: Chapter 2: A Synopsis of Research Needs Identified at the Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB)

Evidence indicates that the incidence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) is increasing in spatial extent and temporal frequency worldwide. Cyanobacterial blooms produce highly potent toxins and huge, noxious biomasses in surface waters used for recreation, commerce, and as drinking water sources. The Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB) characterized the state of the science and identified research needed to address the risks posed by CHABs to human health and ecosystem sustainability. This chapter provides a synopsis of CHAB research needs that were identified by workgroups that addressed charges in major topic areas. The research and infrastructure needed are listed under nine categories: 1) Analytical Methods; 2) CHAB Occurrence; 3) CHAB Causes; 4) Human Health; 5) Ecosystem Sustainability; 6) CHAB Prevention; 7) CHAB Control and Mitigation; 8) Risk Assessment and; 9) Infrastructure. A number of important issues must be addressed to successfully confront the health, ecologic, and economic challenges presented by CHABs. Near-term research goals include the development of field-ready tests to identify and quantify cells and toxins, the production of certified reference standards and bulk toxins, formal assessments of CHAB incidence, improved understanding of toxin effects, therapeutic interventions, ecologically benign means to prevent and control CHABs, supplemental drinking water treatment techniques, and the development of risk assessment and management strategies. Long-term goals include the assimilation of CHAB databases into emerging U.S. and international observing systems, the development of quantitative models to predict CHAB occurrence, effects, and management outcomes, and economic analyses of CAHB costs and management benefits. Accomplishing further infrastructure development and freshwater HAB research is discussed in relationship to the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act and existing HAB research programs. A sound scientific basis, the integration of CHAB infrastructure with that of the marine HAB community, and a systems approach to risk assessment and management will minimize the impact of this growing challenge to society

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms: Chapter 2: A Synopsis of Research Needs Identified at the Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB)

Evidence indicates that the incidence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) is increasing in spatial extent and temporal frequency worldwide. Cyanobacterial blooms produce highly potent toxins and huge, noxious biomasses in surface waters used for recreation, commerce, and as drinking water sources. The Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB) characterized the state of the science and identified research needed to address the risks posed by CHABs to human health and ecosystem sustainability. This chapter provides a synopsis of CHAB research needs that were identified by workgroups that addressed charges in major topic areas. The research and infrastructure needed are listed under nine categories: 1) Analytical Methods; 2) CHAB Occurrence; 3) CHAB Causes; 4) Human Health; 5) Ecosystem Sustainability; 6) CHAB Prevention; 7) CHAB Control and Mitigation; 8) Risk Assessment and; 9) Infrastructure. A number of important issues must be addressed to successfully confront the health, ecologic, and economic challenges presented by CHABs. Near-term research goals include the development of field-ready tests to identify and quantify cells and toxins, the production of certified reference standards and bulk toxins, formal assessments of CHAB incidence, improved understanding of toxin effects, therapeutic interventions, ecologically benign means to prevent and control CHABs, supplemental drinking water treatment techniques, and the development of risk assessment and management strategies. Long-term goals include the assimilation of CHAB databases into emerging U.S. and international observing systems, the development of quantitative models to predict CHAB occurrence, effects, and management outcomes, and economic analyses of CAHB costs and management benefits. Accomplishing further infrastructure development and freshwater HAB research is discussed in relationship to the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act and existing HAB research programs. A sound scientific basis, the integration of CHAB infrastructure with that of the marine HAB community, and a systems approach to risk assessment and management will minimize the impact of this growing challenge to society

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms: Chapter 1: An Overview of the Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB): Advancing the Scientific Understanding of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms

There is growing evidence that the spatial and temporal incidence of harmful algal blooms is increasing, posing potential risks to human health and ecosystem sustainability. Currently there are no US Federal guidelines, Water Quality Criteria and Standards, or regulations concerning the management of harmful algal blooms. Algal blooms in freshwater are predominantly cyanobacteria, some of which produce highly potent cyanotoxins. The US Congress mandated a Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms in the 2004 reauthorization of the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act. To further the scientific understanding of freshwater harmful algal blooms, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established an interagency committee to organize the Interagency, International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB). A theoretical framework to define scientific issues and a systems approach to implement the assessment and management of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms were developed as organizing themes for the symposium. Seven major topic areas and 23 subtopics were addressed in Workgroups and platform sessions during the symposium. The primary charge given to platform presenters was to describe the state of the science in the subtopic areas, whereas the Workgroups were charged with identifying research that could be accomplished in the short- and long-term to reduce scientific uncertainties. The proceedings of the symposium, published in this monograph, are intended to inform policy determinations and the mandated Scientific Assessment by describing the scientific knowledge and areas of uncertainty concerning freshwater harmful algal blooms

Brain Uptake, Retention, and Efflux of Aluminum and Manganese

My colleagues and I investigated the sites and mechanisms of aluminum (Al) and manganese (Mn) distribution through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Microdialysis was used to sample non-protein-bound Al in the extracellular fluid (ECF) of blood (plasma) and brain. Brain ECF Al appearance after intravenous Al citrate injection was too rapid to attribute to diffusion or to transferrin-receptor-mediated endocytosis, suggesting another carrier-mediated process. The brain:blood ECF Al concentration ratio was 0.15 at constant blood and brain ECF Al concentrations, suggesting carrier-mediated brain Al efflux. Pharmacological manipulations suggested the efflux carrier might be a monocarboxylate transporter (MCT). However, the lack of Al 14C-citrate uptake into rat erythrocytes suggested it is not a good substrate for isoform MCT1 or for the band 3 anion exchanger. Al 14C-citrate uptake into murine-derived brain endothelial cells appeared to be carrier mediated, Na independent, pH independent, and energy dependent. Uptake was inhibited by substrate/inhibitors of the MCT and organic anion transporter families. Determination of 26Al in rat brain at various times after intravenous 26Al suggested a prolonged brain 26Al half-life. It appears that Al transferrin and Al citrate cross the BBB by different mechanisms, that much of the Al entering brain ECF is rapidly effluxed, probably as Al citrate, but that some Al is retained for quite some time. Brain influx of the Mn2+ ion and Mn citrate, determined with the in situ brain perfusion technique, was greater than that attributable to diffusion, suggesting carrier-mediated uptake. Mn citrate uptake was approximately 3-fold greater than the Mn2+ ion, suggesting it is a primary Mn species entering the brain. After Mn2+ ion, Mn citrate, or Mn transferrin injection into the brain, brain Mn efflux was not more rapid than that predicted from diffusion. The BBB permeation of Al and Mn is mediated by carriers that may help regulate their brain concentrations

Water Manganese Exposure and Children’s Intellectual Function in Araihazar, Bangladesh

Exposure to manganese via inhalation has long been known to elicit neurotoxicity in adults, but little is known about possible consequences of exposure via drinking water. In this study, we report results of a cross-sectional investigation of intellectual function in 142 10-year-old children in Araihazar, Bangladesh, who had been consuming tube-well water with an average concentration of 793 μg Mn/L and 3 μg arsenic/L. Children and mothers came to our field clinic, where children received a medical examination in which weight, height, and head circumference were measured. Children’s intellectual function was assessed on tests drawn from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, version III, by summing weighted items across domains to create Verbal, Performance, and Full-Scale raw scores. Children provided urine specimens for measuring urinary As and creatinine and were asked to provide blood samples for measuring blood lead, As, Mn, and hemoglobin concentrations. After adjustment for sociodemographic covariates, water Mn was associated with reduced Full-Scale, Performance, and Verbal raw scores, in a dose–response fashion; the low level of As in water had no effect. In the United States, roughly 6% of domestic household wells have Mn concentrations that exceed 300 μg Mn/L, the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lifetime health advisory level. We conclude that in both Bangladesh and the United States, some children are at risk for Mn-induced neurotoxicity

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Differentiation into Oligodendrocyte Progenitors and Transplantation in a Rat Model of Optic Chiasm Demyelination

BACKGROUND: This study aims to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into oligodendrocyte precursors and assess their recovery potential in a demyelinated optic chiasm model in rats. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We generated a cell population of oligodendrocyte progenitors from hiPSCs by using embryoid body formation in a defined medium supplemented with a combination of factors, positive selection and mechanical enrichment. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence analyses showed that stage-specific markers, Olig2, Sox10, NG2, PDGFRα, O4, A2B5, GalC, and MBP were expressed following the differentiation procedure, and enrichment of the oligodendrocyte lineage. These results are comparable with the expression of stage-specific markers in human embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Transplantation of hiPSC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitors into the lysolecithin-induced demyelinated optic chiasm of the rat model resulted in recovery from symptoms, and integration and differentiation into oligodendrocytes were detected by immunohistofluorescence staining against PLP and MBP, and measurements of the visual evoked potentials. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results showed that oligodendrocyte progenitors generated efficiently from hiPSCs can be used in future biomedical studies once safety issues have been overcome

Massive multiplication of genome and ribosomes in dormant cells (akinetes) of Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (Cyanobacteria)

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 6 (2012): 670–679, doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.128.Akinetes are dormancy cells commonly found among filamentous cyanobacteria, many of which are toxic and/or nuisance, bloom-forming species. Development of akinetes from vegetative cells is a process that involves morphological and biochemical modifications. Here we applied a single cell approach to quantify genome and ribosome content of akinetes and vegetative cells in Aphanizomenon ovalisporum (Cyanobacteria). Vegetative cells of A. ovalisporum were naturally polyploid and contained on average 8 genome copies per cell. However, the chromosomal content of akinetes increased up to 450 copies, with an average value of 119 genome copies per akinete, 15 fold higher that in vegetative cells. Based on fluorescence in situ hybridization with a probe targeting 16S rRNA and detection with confocal laser scanning microscopy we conclude that ribosomes accumulated in akinetes to a higher level than that found in vegetative cells. We further present evidence that this massive accumulation of nucleic acids in akinetes is likely supported by phosphate supplied from inorganic polyphosphate bodies that were abundantly present in vegetative cells, but notably absent from akinetes. These results are interpreted in the context of cellular investments for proliferation following long term dormancy, as the high nucleic acid content would provide the basis for extended survival, rapid resumption of metabolic activity and cell division upon germination.Supported by the Gruss Lipper Foundation research award (AS). This study was part of the Joint German-Israeli-Project (FKZ 02WT0985, WR803) funded by the German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMBF) and Israel Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)