Uncharacterized Marine Microbial Chemical Interaction Yields Unusual Volatile Compounds

Objective

Global change is compromising the Ocean and Human Health by favoring the development of Harmful Algal Blooms in many regions worldwide. An increasing number of coastal dinoflagellate blooms are associated with respiratory disorders, threatening the health of the population. While the airborne toxic factors remain undisclosed in the majority of dinoflagellates blooms, deciphering their sea-air transfer is urgently needed. This effort is crucial in furnishing stakeholders with essential knowledge for the effective management of the airborne toxicity. UNIVOC will address this knowledge gap through a multi-disciplinary approach. (1) The nature and effects of airborne toxic factors will be elucidated, by combining innovative process studies using reference air-sea interface tanks and state-of-the art toxicological assays using reconstituted human respiratory epithelium. (2) The ecological factors driving the release of the toxic component in the atmosphere will be identified using original experimental design in chemical ecology involving controlled experiments and cutting-edge approaches in metabolomics, transcriptomics and isotopy. (3) The influence of multiple abiotic drivers on the microbial chemical interaction causing the airborne toxicity will be determined using innovative community-level experimentations and multi-drivers approach. UNIVOC will reshape our vision of the airborne toxicity associated with dinoflagellate blooms through the exploration of a novel paradigm, emphasizing chemical interactions within the microbial sphere as the primary driver. Having led the first pilot research in this field, I am ideally placed to carry out the project. UNIVOC will provide essential knowledge of the metabolic and genetic markers of the key microbial consortium, as well as the abiotic conditions in which it may thrive, paving the way for a global assessment of coastal areas at risk at present and in the future.