Descripción del proyecto
La supervivencia de las aves del Amazonas ante la exposición subletal al mercurio
El mercurio es un elemento de origen natural que está presente en el aire, el agua y el suelo. La exposición al mercurio (incluso en pequeñas dosis) puede provocar graves problemas de salud, y es una amenaza para el crecimiento de un niño en el útero y durante la primera etapa de su vida. La Organización Mundial de la Salud ha incluido al mercurio en la lista de las diez sustancias, o grupos de sustancias, químicas más peligrosas para la salud pública. El proyecto AMAZON_MERCURY, financiado con fondos europeos, estudiará el impacto de la contaminación ambiental de mercurio provocada por los humanos que se acumula en organismos vivos de los ecosistemas acuáticos, y que provoca daños neurológicos, fisiológicos, inmunológicos y reproductivos en la flora y fauna. Los investigadores se centrarán en los cambios evolutivos causados por una larga exposición a la contaminación por mercurio en las poblaciones silvestres de importantes bioindicadores aviares en el Amazonas, y utilizarán para ello técnicas de gran eficacia para el análisis genómico avanzado.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrologylimnology
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
1165 Kobenhavn
Dinamarca