News Release

UD Environmental News: Pfiesteria Detectors To Be Described March 18

Meeting Announcement

University of Delaware

Two emerging technologies for rapidly detecting Pfiesteria piscicida and its toxins--a "reporter gene assay" that exploits the power of a firefly enzyme and DNA-based molecular probes--will be described March 18 by expert JoAnn M. Burkholder, as part of an Ocean Lunch and Lecture Series cosponsored by the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies and Sea Grant College Program.

Burkholder, an associate professor of botany at North Carolina State University who co-discovered the Pfiesteria organism--a single-celled "dinoflagellate" that in certain life phases literally flagellates or whips through water, sometimes releasing toxins that kill fish--also will clarify techniques for recognizing true Pfiesteria versus "Pfiesteria look-alikes."

Field-ready detection systems now are being developed by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Biotoxins Program and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in conjunction with Burkholder. Pfiesteria--the so-called "cell from hell"--has been found in nutrient-rich estuaries from Delaware's Indian River Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Public fears escalated last year when Maryland medical specialists documented health problems such as short-term memory loss and skin rashes among people who had been exposed to the organism in water. Detectors show promise for minimizing such exposure.

UD Water-Quality Experts

Though harmful algal blooms have been reported for centuries, many researchers believe that runoff of fertilizers and other nutrients from farms, homes and industry help promote Pfiesteria outbreaks. At UD, marine and agricultural scientists, geologists and a host of other researchers have been studying water-quality issues for 25 years. The following UD experts can comment on various water-quality issues:

  • NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT: "We are all part of the problem," notes J. Thomas Sims, a professor of plant and soil sciences and chairperson of UD's Nutrient Management and Water-Quality Advisory Committee. "We all need to be part of the solution." Recent Pfiesteria problems should serve as an educational tool, and as "a catalyst for promoting positive changes in residential, agricultural and industrial areas," he says. Within UD's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, researchers have emphasized support for poultry growers and producers. Delaware's Sussex County is the nation's largest poultry-producing county, Sims says, and though "most of our farmers are doing a good job," unpredictable weather conditions can make efficient nutrient management difficult.

  • WATER POLLUTION ECOLOGY: S. Kent Price Jr., director of the Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service and an associate professor within UD's College of Marine Studies, served until recently as chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Inland Bays, which manages more than $500,000 worth of conservation and management projects. His current research includes the use of biological communities as indicators of nutrient enrichment and toxic contamination of estuaries.

  • NITROGEN AND PHOSPHOROUS CONTAMINATION: A. Scott Andres, a veteran scientist within the Delaware Geological Survey at UD, currently studies nitrogen and phosphorous contamination of ground and surface waters. He is an expert source on regional geological conditions as they pertain to water contamination. His recent projects have included, for example, an assessment of the impacts of agricultural drainage on water quality in Delaware.

  • RNA-BASED PFIESTERIA PROBES : Assistant Prof. Craig Cary and colleagues in the College of Marine Studies are gearing up to develop new molecular tools for monitoring specific life stages of the Pfiesteria population "at an extremely fine resolution," he says. The monitoring system would use RNA (ribonucleic acid) to target the organism within samples.

REPORTERS: You must R.S.V.P. to attend Burkholder's presentation, which will take place from noon until 1 p.m. in the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Wednesday, March 18. (The meal is optional, and costs $10 in advance or $12 at the door.) To R.S.V.P., arrange interviews, obtain a transcript of Burkholder's presentation or request technical information about Pfiesteria probes, contact Ginger Pinholster at (302) 831-6408, or via e-mail: ginger.pinholster@mvs.udel.edu

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