Research Projects

To evaluate, design, and implement a system to network distributed data bases of environmental data sets located at the nations marine labs to provide visual displays on spatial and temporal scales for research, management and educational use.

The objective of this research is to use ocean color data from aircraft remote sensing to determine the distribution of chlorophyll in Chesapeake Bay. We will use a combination of the data from aircraft overflights with two instruments, the Ocean Data Acquisition System (ODAS) and the SeaWIFS Aircraft Simulator (SAS III), with those from shipboard and satellite studies to assess the relationship of principal forcing functions in the Bay to seasonal and interannual variations in phytoplankton abundance. A series of 25-30 flights is proposed for 1997, spanning Iate February through October.

To continue quantification of the impact of the Baltimore/Washington urban area on atmospheric depositional fluxes to the northern Chesapeake Bay through a consistent long-term sampling program at urban and down-wind sites; To, through the release of purposeful tracers of diesel soot exhaust, track the urban plume and characterize size distributions and deposition of combustion-derived aerosol particles; To determine, through intensive sampling programs under winter and summer conditions, the magnitude and variability of atmospheric and surface water concentrations, and of estimated gas exchange rates, or semivolatile organic contaminants and mercury species.

To use the estimated model to assess changes in behavior, conditioned on land use, as well as actual changes in land use patterns under an array of alternative policy scenarios that are likely ultimately to have significant effects on water quality. 2. The consequences for non-point source pollution of the predicted land use changes can be assessed by feeding the results of the spatially articulated economics (human activity) model into any similarly conceived spatial model of the ecosystem.

To study the biological activity of the novel GnRH in striped bass and to design and select super-active analogs of this peptide to be used for improved spawning induction therapies in striped bass and other farmed fish. To study the regulation of the synthesis and release of the novel GnRH in striped bass, in order to understand the nature of the hormonal failure that results in the lack of ovulation and spawning in captive striped bass and other farmed marine fish. Improve the technology for spawning induction in striped bass, based on the administration of super-active analogs of the most physiologically relevant sbGnRH, or of the most potent cGnRH-II, at the appropriate dose, pattern and timing.

To develop collaborations and partnerships that help UMES to strengthen its Sea Grant related teaching and research programs. Sea Grant funded scientists would be assisting UMES in providing extremely high quality education for our students, thus providing the nation with minorities who have acquired expertise in the marine sciences.

The goals of this proposed research are to understand the permeability of teleost embryos to water and cryoprotectants in order to develop an uncomplicated, low-cost germ plasm cryopreservation system that may be applicable to many fish species. Traditional cryobiological techniques have been unsuccessful in developing successful approaches because they revealed little about the permeability of the embryos (a crucial element for successful cryopreservation). In order to increase our understanding of permeability, we will use magnetic resonance (MR) microscopy on zebrafish embryos.

We will test the hypothesis that water quality in eutrophic estuaries can be substantially improved as a consequence of the feeding activity of bivalves. These organisms serve to remove large quantities of phytoplankton and hence may reduce the amount of organic material settling beneath the estuarine pycnocline where its degradation causes hypoxia. We will determine if the rate and form of nitrogen regenerated from oyster biodeposits in aerobic waters differs from when the same amount of plankton biomass is degraded through anaerobic microbial processes. This research is pertinent to both the Environmental Studies and Fisheries and Aquaculture programmatic areas.

Our objective is to determine the mechanism by which Perkinsus marinus acquires iron from its host and how available iron controls the gene expression in the parasite, particularly in those aspects related to its proliferation and intracellular survival. Free or protein-bound iron is an essential factor for many apicomplexan parasites and for most eukaryotic cells in culture. P. marinus proliferation rates in vitro are highly dependent on available iron. The degree of concentration of metals such as iron, in the oyster host Crassostrea virginica is related to environmental factors. It is possible that, in the case of P. marinus and C.

To evaluate several biotechnology approaches for producing biologically active recombinant red drum growth hormone (GH), to understand the physiology of GH secretion and the possible functions of GH in red drum, and to determine whether feeding the recombinant hormone in the diet is an effective method for administering GH and promoting growth of fish. Long-term goals are to develop techniques for mass producing piscine recombinant growth hormones inexpensively, to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the functions of GH using the recombinant hormone, as well as developing a practical method for administering them to fish at commercial aquaculture facilities to enhance fish growth.

The objective of the proposed research is to use surface observations of ocean color on buoys to calibrate and validate satellite-derived products from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). Ocean color sensors will be deployed on buoys of the Chesapeake Bay Observing System (CBOS) in the mid - to lower Bay and coordinated with aircraft and satellite measurements.

Develop, calibrate, and validate a Haplosporidium nelsoni submodel, to be linked to an existing Crassostrea virginica-Perkinsus marinus host-parasite population dynamics model. Assemble and quality-assure calibration and input data from Chesapeake Bay Oyster population and disease monitoring programs. Develop spatial grid interpolations to match environmental and biological data for the Chesapeake Bay. Perform site-specific model runs for selected Virginia and Maryland sites, and for 64 Maryland Modified Fall Oyster Survey sites, the latter runs to be used for statistical tests of model performance. Apply a recently developed dual disease oyster model to high priority oyster management issues.

This project examines the meaning of restoration in the Chesapeake Bay by exploring the human relationships with the Bay that have been threatened or disrupted by industrial and commercial development. Utilizing the concept of "place," it will provide framework for understanding restoration in cultural and psychological, as well as biological and economic terms. The project will elicit contemporary visions of restoration through focus groups comprised of Bay area residents, workers, users, activists, and policy makers, and will investigate historical and literary accounts of the Bay to place contemporary views in a broader context.

Collect fry or fingerlings from five different strains of striped bass and rear to a suitable size for tank culture. Compare between and among production performance of the different strains for 24 months in a recirculating and flow-through system. Track performance on a monthly basis of each separate strain and family. Compare growth, survival, FCR, and dress-out percentages of the five strains and families in the different systems. Determine the fastest growing, best adapted strain for between-family selection potential.

To identify genetic differences among geographically separate C. virginica populations. To correlate genetic differences or markers among those populations with differences in disease susceptibility or resistance.

We plan to apply the methodologies developed from our current NMFS-funded project for mtDNA markers, DNA fingerprinting, RNA probes and PCR technologies to quantify low-levels of Perkinsus marinus infections in order to fully describe the etiology of this oyster disease. Our progress in working with genetic markers of P. marinus has: Developed a sensitive PCR-based diagnostic assay for detecting P. marinus infections ; Identified an extrachromosomal relic plastid-genome in P. marinus that is indicative of this species' close affinity to dinoflagellates and a photosynthetic ancestor; Described two ribosomal RNA genes that have been used in a phylogenetic reconstruction of the ancestral lineages of P. marinus ; Quantified tissue-specific P.

To implement the most successful of several recent wind-wave computer models (currently being tested in a limited region of upper Chesapeake Bay) for the entire Bay; to gather a suite of wind and wave observations in northern Chesapeake Bay during different seasons and at different locations, both for the intrinsic value of the wave data and for comparison to and calibration of the model(s); to generate a model data base of general wave climatology and predicted responses to specific events; to develop a graphically oriented data base front end for other interested scientists and managers, in order to allow them to explore the surface wave climate of the northern Bay without having to implement or run the wave model.

The overall objective of the proposed research is to understand the endocrine mechanism regulating the onset of puberty in fish, using striped bass as a model, with a view towards developing techniques for accelerating or inhibiting puberty in farmed fish. This objective will be obtained through the following steps: study the ontogeny of the brain-pituitary gonadal (BPG) function prior to and throughout puberty study the ontogeny of the responsiveness of BPG axis to exogenous hormones induction of advanced (precocious) complete gametogenesis leading to spawning of good-quality eggs.

1. Selected symbiotic bacteria will be detected, isolated and characterized from marine invertebrates, including corals and sponges from the Red Sea and in the United States, e.g. Puerto Rico and Florida. 2. Isolates will be screened under in vitro conditions for biological activities in collaboration with Israeli colleagues who are working in the Red Sea.

To provide training and a basic understanding of environmental valuation and related economic principals, and their role in the management of the Chesapeake Bay to individuals involved in Bay management and decision-making.

Continue efforts to assess the potential resistance of selectively bred oysters to JOD, Attempts will be made to transmit and evaluate the susceptibility of other species of cultured oysters to JOD, Assess the spread of JOD outside the New York and New England region, Continue attempts to identify disease agent, Provide instructional education to aquaculturists and resource managers on JOD, and Study conchiolinous response manifested in JOD oysters.

To determine the accumulative effects of current, increased and decreased levels of multiple stressors on a representative coastal system; to determine how ecological complexity, variability, and spatial structure affect the response of a representative coastal system to multiple stressors and the ability of managers to predict that response; and to determine how a variety of management options may affect both the biota and the economic value of the system.

The objectives of this project wiIl be to deploy hatchery produced seed on a 5 to7 acre portion of a newly constructed shell bar in three Oyster Recovery Areas (ORAS) and monitor those seed to determine how well they survive and how quickly they become infected with P. marinus and die.

To develop methods for economically producing large quantities of oligosaccharides from chitin, to facilitate research and application of this renewable resource. To devise simple methods for the economical large scale preparation of pure chitin oligosaccharides. These substances are potentially important for agriculture, medicine, and for basic research. NOTE: Omnibus 98-99; Pass-through 95-97

Identify the transmissible agent, presumably a ciliated protist, responsible for JOD in North Eastern United States. Establish the etiology and identity of the disease pathogen. Culture the transmissible agent, presumably a ciliated protist, in suitable media. Transmit the presumed pathogenic ciliate to cultured parasite free oysters and recover the parasite after the oysters have come down with the infection. Detection of the JOD organism in other species of cultured oysters and identify such a ciliate pathogen if one is found.