Jordan Balson,MSc Candidate
Lefebvre Lab & Environment Physiology and Freshwater Ecosystem Lab Assessing the potential of Caenorhabditis elegans in the bioremediation of M. aeruginosa Reported incidences of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, or CHABs, are increasing across the world due to climate change and nutrient loading. CHABs can produce dangerous cyanotoxins and dominate freshwater ecosystems. Microcystis is one of the most common types of cyanobacteria and can produce microcystins. The ecological and human impact of algal blooms are immense, costing $7.8 billion in loss of ecosystem and market asset values in Lake Erie alone. A proactive, targeted approach is needed to bioremediate CHABS. Bioremediation of CHABs with Viviparus georgianus (the banded mystery snail) is somewhat effective, as the snail filter feeds and ingests intact cyanobacteria cells, which are then translocated to the benthos in pseudofeces. Although this keeps cyanobacteria from entering its disruptive colonial phase, this is temporary, as currents eventually liberate the live cyanobacteria cells. Nematodes, such as Caenorhabditis elegans and its relatives, are potential candidates for bioremediating these cyanobacteria-containing pseudofeces in combination with the banded mystery snail. C. elegans have been shown to have detoxification pathways, which may break down microcystins. As well, cyanobacteria have been found in C. elegans’ microbiome, making it likely that they ingest cyanobacteria in nature. We aim to examine the potential of C. elegans for multi-stage bioremediation of Microcystis. We aim to evaluate the potential of C. elegans to ingest, digest and detoxify Microcystis and pseudofeces; as well, we aim to determine what impacts this diet has on C. elegans’ health. We hypothesize that nematodes are viable organisms for bioremediating CHABs in combination with V. georgianus and that nematodes will be able to ingest, digest and detoxify Microcystis cells contained within snail pseudofeces. Comments are closed.
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