Principal Investigator: Dr. Zsolt Pirger
Adaptive Neuroethological, Ecophysiological and Environmental Toxicological Research Group, HUN-REN BLRI
Participants: Prof. Vasas G., Dr. Riba M., Prof. Kemenes G., Prof. Kemenes I., Dr. Svigruha R., Dr. Fodor Istvan., Szanto A., Nemeth Z., Laszlo Z.
Main objectives of the project and the proposed hypothesis
Harmful Algal blooms (HABs) are classified into three main classes based on their effects on the environment and humans. One class, which includes Cyanobacteria, Dinoflagellates, Diatoms, and Raphidophytes, is characterized by the production of several toxins able to find their way through the food chain and have the potential to cause different neurological and gastrointestinal problems in humans through the consumption of aquatic organisms and/or exposure to toxin infested water. In this project, we will explore the effects of cyanobacterial toxins (cianotoxins) on the well-defined nervous system of the highly-recognised freshwater invertebrate model species Lymnaea stagnalis. This species is a globally acknowledged freshwater model organism in neurophysiological studies due to its well-characterized and experimentally accessible nervous system and its numerous advantages.
Cyano-HABs are regularly occurring potentially harmful phenomena not just in the largest shallow lake of Central Europe, Lake Balaton, but worldwide in freshwater lakes and oceans alike, with so far little-known effects on the nervous system. We hypothesize that learning and memory as well as neurodevelopmental and endocrine processes are affected by naturally occurring identified toxins produced by Cyanobacteria. We further hypothesize that levels of reported concentrations measured in cyano-HABs, including species of Lake Balaton, have similar effects on invertebrate and vertebrate nervous systems, including humans.
Therefore, we aim to investigate the following questions:
How do well-known and frequently occurring algal toxins, such as saxitoxin (STX), ß-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), cyanopeptides and anatoxin, affect aquatic organisms at the level of behaviour, neural circuits, individual neurons, and molecules?
How can the revealed mechanisms be utilised to prevent or eliminate the toxic effects in the nervous system?