Descrizione del progetto
Come gli uccelli nel Rio delle Amazzoni sopravvivono all’esposizione subletale al mercurio
Il mercurio è un elemento naturale che si trova nell’aria, nell’acqua e nel terreno. L’esposizione al mercurio (persino in piccole quantità) potrebbe causare gravi problemi di salute, ed è una minaccia per lo sviluppo del bambino nell’utero e nei primi anni di vita. L’Organizzazione mondiale della sanità considera il mercurio una delle prime 10 sostanze o gruppi di sostanze chimiche fonti di grave preoccupazione per la salute pubblica. Il progetto AMAZON_MERCURY, finanziato dall’UE, studierà l’impatto dell’inquinamento ambientale da mercurio provocato dall’uomo che bioaccumula negli ecosistemi acquatici e causa danni neurologici, psicologici, immunologici e riproduttivi alla fauna selvatica. In particolare, concentrerà l’attenzione sui cambiamenti evolutivi indotti dall’esposizione al mercurio per lunghi periodi nelle popolazioni selvatiche di importanti bioindicatori aviari nel Rio delle Amazzoni utilizzando potenti analisi genomiche avanzate.
Obiettivo
Anthropogenically-induced environmental pollution has had a dramatic influence on the natural world, including worldwide decreases in species richness and abundance, ecosystem homogenization, genomic modifications, and altered nutrient cycles. Particularly, human-induced environmental pollution of mercury can bioaccumulate in aquatic ecosystems and cause neurological, physiological, immunological and reproductive damage to wildlife, making it both a European, and global threat. However, the evolutionary impact of long-term exposure to mercury has yet to be studied despite evidence that exposure to mercury can negatively affect survival. Avian piscivores and insectivores, important bioindicators in highly diverse aquatic ecosystem, can be ideal for studying mercury impacts. This project will investigate the evolutionary changes induced by long-term exposure to mercury pollution in wild populations of important avian bioindicators in the Amazon using powerful advanced genomic analyses. It combines the latest Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods with avian ecology and evolution, ecotoxicology, immunology and endocrinology, to generate new insights into the costs of environmental pollution, and the subsequent adaptations that allow for species to survive sublethal exposure to mercury. In order to document long-term changes, historical specimens will be used to assess past genomic variation and mercury levels to be used as a baseline against which differentiating selection patterns are searched. The results will reveal the effects of anthropogenic change on important avian bioindicators and identify the missing link between causative mechanisms and phenotypes, thereby availing these methods for further research. By capitalizing on the development and application of cutting-edge genomics techniques, these findings can identify adaptive and susceptive genotypes to indicate whether selection allows for the survival of species in the face of acute environmental change.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologylimnology
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
1165 Kobenhavn
Danimarca