Project description:This project addresses the question of impact of oil spills on lung health. Specifically the project will address the general hypothesis, which is upon oil/dispersant respiratory exposure there will be a higher carcinogenic potential of lung tissue.
Project description:To reveal the potential effects of oil and oil dispersants on the respiratory system at the molecular level, we evaluated the transcriptomic profile of human airway epithelial cells grown under treatment of crude oil, the dispersants Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527 and oil-dispersant mixtures. We identified a very strong effect of Corexit 9500 treatment, with 84 genes (response genes) differentially expressed in treatment vs. control samples. We discovered an interactive effect of oil + dispersant mixtures; while no response gene was found for Corexit 9527 treatment alone, cells treated with Corexit 9527 + oil mixture showed an increased number of response genes (46 response genes), suggesting a synergic effect of 9527 with oil on the transcriptomic perturbation of airway epithelial cells. Through GO (gene ontology) functional term and pathway-based analysis, we identified upregulation of genes involved in angiogenesis and immune responses and downregulation of genes involved in cell junctions and steroid synthesis as the prevailing transcriptomic signatures in the cells treated with Corexit 9500, oil or Corexit 9500 + oil mixture. Interestingly, these key molecular features coincide with those observed in common lung diseases, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the detrimental effects of oil and oil dispersants to the respiratory system and suggested significant health impacts of the recent BP oil spill to those people involved in the cleaning operation.
Project description:The application of chemical dispersants during marine oil spills can affect the community composition and activity of native marine microorganisms. Several studies have indicated that certain marine hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, such as Marinobacter spp., can be inhibited by chemical dispersants, resulting in lower abundances and/or reduced hydrocarbon-biodegradation rates. In this respect, a major knowledge gap exists in understanding the mechanisms underlying these observed physiological effects. Here, we performed comparative proteomics of the Deepwater Horizon isolate Marinobacter sp. TT1 grown under different conditions that varied regarding the supplied carbon sources (pyruvate vs. n-hexadecane) and whether or not dispersant (Corexit EC9500A) was added, or that contained crude oil in the form of a water-accommodated fraction (WAF) or chemically-enhanced WAF (CEWAF). We characterized the proteins associated with alkane metabolism and alginate biosynthesis in strain TT1, report on its potential for aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation and present a proposed metabolism of Corexit components as carbon substrates for the strain. Our findings implicate Corexit in affecting hydrocarbon metabolism, chemotactic motility, biofilm formation, and inducing solvent tolerance mechanisms like efflux pumps in strain TT1. This study provides novel insights into dispersant impacts on microbial hydrocarbon degraders that should be taken into consideration for future oil spill response actions.
Project description:The use of dispersants can be an effective way to deal with acute oil spills to limit environmental damage, however very little is known about whether chemically dispersed oil have the same toxic effect on marine organisms as mechanically dispersed oil. We exposed Atlantic cod larvae to chemically and mechanically dispersed oil for four days during the first-feeding stage of development, and collected larvae at 14 days post hatch for transcriptional analysis. A genome-wide microarray was used to screen for effects and to assess whether molecular responses to chemically and mechanically dispersed oil were similar, given the same exposure to oil (droplet distribution and concentration) with and without the addition of a chemical dispersant (Dasic NS).
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Rat liver submitted to high fat diets made with either crude (HFC) or refined salmon oil (HFR). Keywords: transcriptomic analysis