Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.
R/F-71
Effects of environmental contaminants on cell-mediated immune mechanisms of the oyster
Principal Investigator:
Robert S. AndersonStart/End Year:
1990 - 1991Institution:
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
- Oysters
Description:
The production of cytotoxic oxygen metabolites by oyster blood cells will be quantified by state-of-the-art assays measuring biochemical events associated with hemocyte-mediated destruction of pathogens. Hemocytes from oysters exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of model pollutants will also be studied to identify immunotoxicological responses. Our data will define mechanisms of disease resistance, as well as unique biomarker assays for chemical stress.
Funding Start Year
1990
Funding End Year
1991
Program Announcements
News and Blogs
Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
