We studied the impacts of algae blooms on Florida's manatees and the impacts of our solution, Sea Clear. We developed plans on how to use a biodegradable algaecide to prevent algae blooms.
Human Practices
Implementation
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INTRODUCTION: the Florida Manatee has long been emblematic of Florida's coastal fauna and the rich seascape that has attracted so many people throughout its history. Despite an endearing demeanor and niche as a keystone species, manatees have faced relentless endangerment over the years, with a record high death toll of over 1,000 in 2021 due to starvation, entanglement, and boating accidents. A significant portion of these deaths is due to emaciation incited by the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms in recent years, caused by excess fertilizer runoff into bodies of water such as the Indian River Lagoon. The blooms cover the surfaces of bodies of water they pollute, diminishing light penetration and causing seagrass, the manatee's primary source of food, to die off. With little economic incentive for farmers to implement sustainable practices and the challenge of effective law enforcement, manatee populations continue to decline in record numbers, with a longstanding roster spot on Florida's threatened species list and the looming threat of extinction without any intervention.
INSPIRATION
With this problem in mind, Florida State University's iGEM team was inspired to take action by a recent paper published by researchers at Jiangnan University in China, elucidating mechanisms by which the fungal toxin cercosporin can preferentially inactivate cyanobacteria responsible for blooms through lipid membrane affinity and the production of reactive oxygen species in the presence of sunlight.
Cercosporin Mechanism Of Algae Photoinactivation
Figure 1. Mechanism of photoinactivation via cercosporin application [2].
PURPOSE
Our team for this year's competition cycle is working on transgenically inserting the beginning steps of the biosynthetic pathway for cercosporin production into Saccharomyces cerevisiae, more commonly known as baker's yeast. The goal envisioned by this year's team is to separate and genetically modify essential genes required for cercosporin production and clone them into yeast, bypassing the complex regulatory networks intrinsic to the native fungus' genome and increasing product yield, paving the way for biosynthetic mass production.
Biosynthetic Pathway of Cercosporin
Figure 2. The predicted biosynthetic pathway of cercosporin based on current literature [2].
GOAL
We are hoping that our work will serve as a proof of concept experiment and inspire others to continue the isolation and optimization of this pathway in a tractable biological system so that it can be extracted in meaningful amounts from culture and dispersed as an emergency treatment during algal blooms in conjunction with other water treatment and conservational methods to preserve the integrity of Florida's ecosystems.
Boat Ramp Algal Bloom
Figure 3. Depiction of algal bloom [3].
Despite our interest in the compound as an algicide, cercosporin falls under a broader category of biologically interesting molecules known as perylenequinones, which have garnered interest in recent years for their uses in applications ranging from antimicrobial agents to candidate cancer therapeutics in photodynamic therapy. Regardless of what the compound is ultimately used for, Florida State University's iGEM team is looking to earn some medals in this year's competition and leave its mark as an academic organization participating in the emerging science of synthetic biology.
(1) Liu, M., Zhang, Y., Yuan, Z., Lu, L., Liu, X., Zhu, X., Wang, L., Liu, C., & Rao, Y. (2022, March 2). Cercosporin-bioinspired photoinactivation of harmful cyanobacteria under natural sunlight via bifunctional mechanisms. Water Research. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135422002056
(2) National Academy of Sciences. (2018, August 28). Correction for de jonge et al., gene cluster conservation provides insight into cercosporin biosynthesis and extends production to the genus colletotrichum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126760/
(3) NOAA. (n.d.). File:Algae bloom. Bolles Harbor (8741970440).jpg. Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algae_bloom._Bolles_Harbor_(8741970440).jpg
