Our currently funded third-party projects

Dumped Munition in the Baltic Sea pose a potential risk for the environment. In the North and Baltic Sea are containing a legacy of ca. 50 000 tons of dumped chemical munitions and more than 200 000 tons conventional munitions originating from WW I and II. Which chemicals or metabolites are detectable in fish and mussels? Do these chemicals pose a threat for fish and mussels, and how can the dumped munition been managed? These questions are addressed in the research project DAIMON.

Background and Objective

After the 2nd World War, a large amount of chemical weapons and ammunition was dumped in the Baltic Sea and the Skagerrak Strait. Also conventional weapons and munitions lie on the seafloor in different areas of the Baltic Sea as a legacy of the wars. These munitions contain a wide range of hazardous substances. Considering the growing use of the seabed for economic purposes (offshore windfarms, pipelines, etc.), the likelihood of encountering dumped containers with chemical warfare agents or conventional munitions causing direct emissions to the surrounding environment and a risk of human and wildlife exposure is increasing. In addition, the containers and shells are continuously deteriorating due to corrosion. For these reasons there is an ongoing discussion on how to assess and manage the environmental risk of dumped ammunitions, especially in areas where their location is likely to cause a conflict with maritime activities.

DAIMON will focus on the evaluation of risks associated with individual munitions, categorization of threats, and possible remediation methods. Also economical and legal issues will be addressed. Risk assessment/categorization methods will be applied in field studies in the Gulf of Finland, Bornholm and Gdańsk Deeps, Little Belt and Skagerrak to produce examples of evaluation in different regions of the Baltic Sea. As the main result, an easy-to-use software, based on the research carried out within the project, will be presented to stakeholders (maritime administration, environmental agencies, etc.) in the Baltic Sea countries to provide them with a tool for the efficient management of the problem in their respective exclusive economic zones. The tool aims at making the knowledge gained in previous projects related to dumped munitions available to decision makers in the Baltic Sea area.

Approach

The AWI will conduct field studies focussing on the assessment of blue mussels and will contribute to fish surveys. In addition, laboratory experiments with model organisms (fish, mussels, flatworms) will be performed. Parameter under investigation will be e.g. diseases, histopathology and toxicity tests of relevant metabolites and induced cellular defence.

Consortia

Prof. Tilmann Harder (Coordinator) - AWI & Universität Bremen

Dr. Uwe John - AWI & HIFMB

Dr. Sylke Wohlrab - AWI & HIFMB

Prof. Phillipe Schmitt-Kopplin - Helmholtz Zentrum München

Prof. Bente Edvardsen - University of Oslo

Prof. Patrick Keeling - University of British Columbia

Dr. Ramon Massana - Institut de Ciències del Mar

Abstract

Marine eukaryotic protists offer a huge but currently underexploited reservoir of metabolic pathways with biotechnological potential. Given their unique adaptations through symbiosis, endosymbiosis and organelle acquisition, the ecofunctionalities of protists present a hitherto untapped source to discover novel metabolic pathways and bioactivities whilst bearing a high chance of discovering different activities compared to those identified in marine sources, such as bacteria.

The scientific approach and rationale sets PROMiSE apart from many previous scientific initiatives exploiting the biotechnological potential of marine bacteria. The PROMiSE experimental workflow enables this by employing a comprehensive set of Omics methods. This approach spans the encoded metabolic potential to identify biosynthetic gene clusters which in turn guide the targeted metabolite profiling, merged with discovery-based metabolomics. The goal is to target identified candidate compound classes and their pathway-related metabolites and conjugations dereplicated from the Omics information. By linking these methods back to the source cell through single cell Omic methods, PROMiSE offers a unique way to recognize functional gene clusters and to understand how metabolism is partitioned across ecosystems. This is important to unravel how the identified pathways work in nature, and by extension, how they can be expressed and utilized for technological adaptations relevant to a human health and biotechnology market.

The vertically integrated extraction and analyses procedure within PROMiSE are supported by a comprehensive array of cutting-edge in vitro and in vivo bioassays for reliably assessing biological activities by High-Content profiling and antibacterial screening. Analytical chemistry, including high resolution mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spetroscopy approaches, will be used to elucidate compounds found in the bioactive fractions, which will tie back the molecular data to identify relevant enzymes, pathways, and compounds.

Binational project of BMBF and SOA (State Oceanic Administration), China

The overall objective of this project is to investigate the toxin-producing Dinophycean genus Azadinium and its responses to changing environmental conditions. Azaspiracids (AZA) are a newly discovered group of lipophilic algal toxins that accumulate in filter-feeding bivalves and can cause human illness (Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning (AZP)) syndrome after consumption of contaminated  see food. Recently, we were able to identify the planktonic producers of these marine biotoxins as the genus Azadinium (Tillmann et al., 2009), so that now it is now possible to carry out specific studies on the occurrence and potential hazards of these organisms. The aim of this study is to investigate the toxin-producing Dinophycean genus Azadinium and its reaction to changing environmental conditions. The studies form the basis for a comprehensive risk assessment of the flowering of these species and the associated risk of mussel poisoning in Chinese and German coastal waters. The focus is on the current status of the biodiversity of the genus Azadinium, its occurrence (density and seasonality), and the diversity of azaspiracids (structural variants, toxicity). Laboratory experiments are also carried out to investigate the reaction of Azadinium species to climate-related temperature increases. These studies include both cell growth and toxin production, as well as possible temperature influences at various life cycle stages.
Funding period: 08/2017- 07/2021

AWI-Kontakt
Dr. Urban Tillmann