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Phytoplankton responses to trace metals in complex environment

English title Phytoplankton responses to trace metals in complex environment
Applicant Slaveykova-Startcheva Vera
Number 152897
Funding scheme Project funding (Div. I-III)
Research institution Institut F.-A. Forel Université de Genève
Institution of higher education University of Geneva - GE
Main discipline Other disciplines of Environmental Sciences
Start/End 01.01.2015 - 31.12.2015
Approved amount 70'807.00
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Keywords (7)

Cyanobacteria; Ecotoxicology; Diatom; Green algae; Metals; Uptake; Phytoplankton

Lay Summary (French)

Lead
Réponse du phytoplancton aux métaux traces dans un environnement complexe
Lay summary

La compréhension et la prédiction des effets des contaminants dans des systèmes environnementaux complexes sont fondamentales en écotoxicologie. Cependant plusieurs défis persistent, notamment dans l’intégration des facteurs environnementaux avec la complexité biologique, rendant incertain l’évaluation du risque des contaminants et de leurs impacts sur la biodiversité. Le présent projet est la continuation d’une recherche actuellement menée sur “Biodisponibilité des métaux pour les organismes photosynthétiques aquatiques dans un environnement en mutation (BioChen)”. Le travail sera réalisé dans le but d’explorer la réponse dynamique des systèmes biologiques plus complexes. Il combinera des expériences avec des organismes modèles phytoplanctoniques seuls et en mélange afin de former des communautés artificielles sous conditions bien contrôlées mais environnementalement importantes, mimant ainsi les expositions à long-terme multigénérationnelle. L’évolution des générations biologiques sera étudiée sous des conditions de lumière solaire simulée dans un système fait-maison constitué d’un microcosme à température contrôlée et d’un simulateur solaire.
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 20.11.2014

Responsible applicant and co-applicants

Employees

Scientific events

Active participation

Title Type of contribution Title of article or contribution Date Place Persons involved
7th Black Sea Basin Conference on Analytical Chemistry Talk given at a conference Trace metal bioavailability – a key player in surface water quality assessment 10.09.2015 Golden Sands, Bulgaria Slaveykova-Startcheva Vera;
SEFS 9 - Freshwater sciences coming home / Water for a thirsty planet in the 21st century Talk given at a conference The role of light on copper toxicity to microalgae 05.07.2015 Geneva, Switzerland Cheloni Giulia;
2 eme Rencontre Annuel Réseau G3 H2O: Qualité de l’eau De la molécule à la biosphère Talk given at a conference Biogeochemistry and ecotoxicology of inorganic contaminants 01.06.2015 Montreal, Canada Slaveykova-Startcheva Vera;
SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting Talk given at a conference Interactive effects of copper oxide nanoparticles and light to the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 03.05.2015 Barcelona, Spain Cheloni Giulia;


Associated projects

Number Title Start Funding scheme
121628 Linking geochemistry of metal containing nanoparticles to their impact to microorganisms 01.10.2008 Project funding (Div. I-III)
134627 Metal Bioavailability to Aquatic Photosynthetic Organisms in Changing Environment (BioChEn) 01.09.2011 Project funding (Div. I-III)
131280 Non-invasive continuous monitoring of the interaction between nanoparticles and aquatic microorganisms 01.05.2011 NRP 64 Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials
138254 Assessing metal bioavailability through transcriptome response in aquatic primary producers 01.03.2012 Project funding (Div. I-III)

Abstract

Understanding and predicting the contaminant effects in complex environmental systems is fundamental in the ecotoxicology. However many challenges of integrating environmental factors and biological complexity to the contaminant assessment in such dynamic systems persist, making highly uncertain both the risk assessment of toxicants and the evaluation of their impact to biodiversity. The project is continuation of the research on “Metal Bioavailability to Aquatic Photosynthetic Organisms in Changing Environment (BioChEn)”. The research is designed to explore the dynamic response of biological system with increasing complexity and combines work with single model phytoplankton species and their mixtures forming “artificial communities” under well controlled, but environmentally relevant conditions mimicking multigenerational long-term exposures. The evolution of biological responses induced by the essential trace element such as Cu as a function of time and species generations will be explored under conditions of solar-simulated-light in home build system consisting of temperature controlled microcosm and a solar simulator.
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