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| Uptake and Metabolism of Trinitrotoluene (TNT) by Tissue Cultures of Marine Seaweeds |
| Current Support: U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), Marine & Environmental Biotechnology Program (ONR Marine & Environ. Biotech. homepage) |
| Graduate Students: Octavio (Tavi) Cruz-Uribe (Ph.D. candidate) |
| Collaborators: Donald Cheney, Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, Boston, MA (Cheney Research Group homepage) |
| Project Description: The presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and
submerged mines in shallow, nearshore marine waters
has the potential to release explosive compounds such as trinitrotoluene
(TNT) into the marine ecosystem. TNT
and related compounds are potentially toxic to some marine organisms. However, marine plant life may have the natural
ability to bioremediate TNT-contaminated marine
waters by a process similar to phytoremediation. With this end in mind, we are studying the
intrinsic capacity of marine seaweeds to tolerate, take up, and metabolize
TNT from seawater. The putative metabolism of TNT by marine seaweeds
is shown below. |
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| Present research
efforts focus on three objectives: characterize
TNT uptake kinetics by microplantlets of the tropical
red alga Portieria hornemannii
and the cold-water red alga Acrosiphonia coalita; search for immediate products of TNT reduction
(ADNTs) in aqueous phase and biomass; 3) Assess
viability of microplantlets after exposure to
TNT. To facilitate these studies,
axenic tissue cultures derived marine seaweeds serve as the
bioremediation platform. Development
of these culture systems is described later under the research topic area
titled “Production of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites by Cell and Tissue
Cultures of Marine Macroalgae in Bioreactor Systems.” |
| Portieria microplantlets
have a remarkable ability to take up and metabolize TNT. TNT uptake
and biotransformation kinetics are performed in aerated bubbler flasks containing
microplantlets suspended in seawater containing
dissolved TNT. The specific rate
of TNT uptake is over ten times faster than aquatic vascular plants such
as Myriophyllum spicatum. Sample
data from the TNT uptake experiments with Portieria microplantlets
are provided below. |
TNT Uptake Experiment |
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| Collaborative
efforts with Don Cheney’s research group at |