The Immunomodulation Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant and pathogen exposures in the environment that might influence the immune systems of wildlife and the connection to their shared environment with humans. In collaboration with public-health officials, the Team also addresses potential human-health risks stemming from similar exposures. If actual risks are identified, this Team will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants and pathogens. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of the Interior managed landscapes.
Exposure of wildlife, fish, and humans to environmental contaminants is known to cause changes in immune function, which can affect fitness, reproduction and disease resistance. This process, known as immunomodulation, is a major research topic by public health, veterinary, and other medical professionals outside the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
However, it is outside the mission of those professionals to answer questions about the possible link between exposure to toxicants in the environment and immunomodulation in fish and wildlife. With numerous chemicals being released into the environment every day, improved understandings of the interactions between chemical contaminants, pathogens, and infectious diseases is increasing in importance. In collaboration with multiple Federal, State, and local government agencies, universities and international governments, scientists in the Immunomodulation Science Team of the USGS' Environmental Health Program design and conduct field-based assessments and controlled exposures of birds, fish, and other wildlife to gain insights into immune responses that may affect critical terrestrial and aquatic populations.
The science team research aims to identify immune responses, microbiome diversity and stability, and disease susceptibility in fish and wildlife exposed to contaminants and pathogens in the environment. They are also addressing key questions related to the role of contaminants in modulating susceptibility to pathogens, vulnerability to disease, and infectious disease outbreaks in wildlife. Eventually, the results of these studies will identify and prioritize the most important risk factors to fish and wildlife health and could be used to understand relevance for public health. the team is also actively engaged in the development of novel methods (genomic, immune, enzyme and hormone biomarkers to understand effects of contaminant classes commonly detected in the environment.
The Team provides data and information that can inform risk analysis and assessments used by stakeholders to determine the role of contaminant and pathogen exposures on health and disease susceptibility.
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Are there health risks to juvenile salmon associated with sub-lethal exposure to 6PPD-quinone (a chemical added to car tires to reduce oxidation) entering surface waters through stormwater runoff.
- What is the potential for immunomodulation from combined exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds and microbial pathogens in black bass?
- Does exposure to elevated levels of contemporary or newly emerging contaminants induce immunotoxic and other effects in birds that potentially make them more susceptible to disease compared to those birds that have lower or no exposure?
- Does exposure to commonly occurring chemicals cause immunomodulation in amphibians and increase disease prevalence?
- What is the role of environmental factors in shaping the amphibian cutaneous microbiome and susceptibility to pathogens?
- Does exposure to pesticides, hormones, toxins or phytoestrogens modulate the immune response of fish to infectious agents? How do chemical contaminants influence disease resistance?
- Can a single exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals during early embryonic development lead to altered immune response potential of fish in subsequent generations?
- What are the pathways and timing of mercury induced immunomodulation in fish?
- The presence of liver tumors in the white sucker is currently used as a biomarker of contaminant exposure that is used to define Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes region. Are these viruses risk factors associated with the genesis of liver or skin tumors?
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
In ovo exposure to brominated flame retardants Part II: Assessment of effects of TBBPA-BDBPE and BTBPE on hatching success, morphometric and physiological endpoints in American kestrels In ovo exposure to brominated flame retardants Part II: Assessment of effects of TBBPA-BDBPE and BTBPE on hatching success, morphometric and physiological endpoints in American kestrels
Chloride in water, metals in sediment and amphibian tissues and amphibian capture information from wetlands in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, 2015-2017 Chloride in water, metals in sediment and amphibian tissues and amphibian capture information from wetlands in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, 2015-2017
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Development of a multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to identify coinfections in young-of-the-year smallmouth bass Development of a multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to identify coinfections in young-of-the-year smallmouth bass
Establishment of baseline cytology metrics in nestling American kestrels (Falco sparverius): Immunomodulatory effects of the flame retardant isopropylated triarylphosphate isomers Establishment of baseline cytology metrics in nestling American kestrels (Falco sparverius): Immunomodulatory effects of the flame retardant isopropylated triarylphosphate isomers
Identification of Aphanomyces invadans, the cause of epizootic ulcerative syndrome, in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Cheat River, West Virginia, USA Identification of Aphanomyces invadans, the cause of epizootic ulcerative syndrome, in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Cheat River, West Virginia, USA
Genome sequences of 26 white sucker hepatitis B virus isolates from white sucker, catostomus commersonii, inhabiting transboundary waters from Alberta, Canada, to the Great Lakes, USA Genome sequences of 26 white sucker hepatitis B virus isolates from white sucker, catostomus commersonii, inhabiting transboundary waters from Alberta, Canada, to the Great Lakes, USA
Phylogeographic genetic diversity in the white sucker hepatitis B Virus across the Great Lakes Region and Alberta, Canada Phylogeographic genetic diversity in the white sucker hepatitis B Virus across the Great Lakes Region and Alberta, Canada
Neither microcystin, nor nodularin, nor cylindrospermopsin directly interact with human toll-like receptors Neither microcystin, nor nodularin, nor cylindrospermopsin directly interact with human toll-like receptors
Effects of early life stage exposure of largemouth bass to atrazine or a model estrogen (17α-ethinylestradiol) Effects of early life stage exposure of largemouth bass to atrazine or a model estrogen (17α-ethinylestradiol)
Endocrine and physiological responses of hatchling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following embryonic exposure to technical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (C10-13) Endocrine and physiological responses of hatchling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following embryonic exposure to technical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (C10-13)
Early life exposure to triphenyl phosphate: Effects on thyroid function, growth, and resting metabolic rate of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks Early life exposure to triphenyl phosphate: Effects on thyroid function, growth, and resting metabolic rate of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks
In vitro immune function in laboratory-reared age-0 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) relative to diet In vitro immune function in laboratory-reared age-0 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) relative to diet
Managing the trifecta of disease, climate, and contaminants: Searching for robust choices under multiple sources of uncertainty Managing the trifecta of disease, climate, and contaminants: Searching for robust choices under multiple sources of uncertainty
Atrazine induced transgenerational reproductive effects in medaka (Oryzias latipes) Atrazine induced transgenerational reproductive effects in medaka (Oryzias latipes)
The Immunomodulation Integrated Science Team focuses on contaminant and pathogen exposures in the environment that might influence the immune systems of wildlife and the connection to their shared environment with humans. In collaboration with public-health officials, the Team also addresses potential human-health risks stemming from similar exposures. If actual risks are identified, this Team will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants and pathogens. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of the Interior managed landscapes.
Exposure of wildlife, fish, and humans to environmental contaminants is known to cause changes in immune function, which can affect fitness, reproduction and disease resistance. This process, known as immunomodulation, is a major research topic by public health, veterinary, and other medical professionals outside the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
However, it is outside the mission of those professionals to answer questions about the possible link between exposure to toxicants in the environment and immunomodulation in fish and wildlife. With numerous chemicals being released into the environment every day, improved understandings of the interactions between chemical contaminants, pathogens, and infectious diseases is increasing in importance. In collaboration with multiple Federal, State, and local government agencies, universities and international governments, scientists in the Immunomodulation Science Team of the USGS' Environmental Health Program design and conduct field-based assessments and controlled exposures of birds, fish, and other wildlife to gain insights into immune responses that may affect critical terrestrial and aquatic populations.
The science team research aims to identify immune responses, microbiome diversity and stability, and disease susceptibility in fish and wildlife exposed to contaminants and pathogens in the environment. They are also addressing key questions related to the role of contaminants in modulating susceptibility to pathogens, vulnerability to disease, and infectious disease outbreaks in wildlife. Eventually, the results of these studies will identify and prioritize the most important risk factors to fish and wildlife health and could be used to understand relevance for public health. the team is also actively engaged in the development of novel methods (genomic, immune, enzyme and hormone biomarkers to understand effects of contaminant classes commonly detected in the environment.
The Team provides data and information that can inform risk analysis and assessments used by stakeholders to determine the role of contaminant and pathogen exposures on health and disease susceptibility.
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Are there health risks to juvenile salmon associated with sub-lethal exposure to 6PPD-quinone (a chemical added to car tires to reduce oxidation) entering surface waters through stormwater runoff.
- What is the potential for immunomodulation from combined exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds and microbial pathogens in black bass?
- Does exposure to elevated levels of contemporary or newly emerging contaminants induce immunotoxic and other effects in birds that potentially make them more susceptible to disease compared to those birds that have lower or no exposure?
- Does exposure to commonly occurring chemicals cause immunomodulation in amphibians and increase disease prevalence?
- What is the role of environmental factors in shaping the amphibian cutaneous microbiome and susceptibility to pathogens?
- Does exposure to pesticides, hormones, toxins or phytoestrogens modulate the immune response of fish to infectious agents? How do chemical contaminants influence disease resistance?
- Can a single exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals during early embryonic development lead to altered immune response potential of fish in subsequent generations?
- What are the pathways and timing of mercury induced immunomodulation in fish?
- The presence of liver tumors in the white sucker is currently used as a biomarker of contaminant exposure that is used to define Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes region. Are these viruses risk factors associated with the genesis of liver or skin tumors?
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
In ovo exposure to brominated flame retardants Part II: Assessment of effects of TBBPA-BDBPE and BTBPE on hatching success, morphometric and physiological endpoints in American kestrels In ovo exposure to brominated flame retardants Part II: Assessment of effects of TBBPA-BDBPE and BTBPE on hatching success, morphometric and physiological endpoints in American kestrels
Chloride in water, metals in sediment and amphibian tissues and amphibian capture information from wetlands in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, 2015-2017 Chloride in water, metals in sediment and amphibian tissues and amphibian capture information from wetlands in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, 2015-2017
Below are publications associated with this science team.