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 suceptibility 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
- 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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
Atrazine induced transgenerational reproductive effects in medaka (Oryzias latipes)
- Overview
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 suceptibility 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
- 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?
- Data
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
- Observations of test subjects and hatching data - Body weight, organ/tissue weights - Biomarker data (oxidative stress indicators, oxidative DNA damage, thyroid hormones, histological findings) in various tissues - Chemical residues in tissuesChloride 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
The data presented includes chloride concentration and specific conductance in surface water collected from 33 wetlands in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, 2015-2017 as well as count data for three species of amphibians captured at each wetland. Data also includes concentrations of metals in bed sediment and larval amphibians collected from 32 and 12 wetlands, respectively in 2015- - Publications
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Filter Total Items: 19Development of a multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to identify coinfections in young-of-the-year smallmouth bass
Histopathological assessments of young-of-the-year (age-0) Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu in the Susquehanna River drainage identified a high prevalence of the myxozoan Myxobolus inornatus. This myxozoan infects the connective tissue of the muscle below the skin but is sometimes observed in the esophagus and buccal cavity. In some instances, shallow infections cause breaks in the skin, whichEstablishment of baseline cytology metrics in nestling American kestrels (Falco sparverius): Immunomodulatory effects of the flame retardant isopropylated triarylphosphate isomers
Avian populations must mount effective immune responses upon exposure to environmental stressors such as avian influenza and xenobiotics. Although multiple immune assays have been tested and applied to various avian species, antibody-mediated immune responses in non-model avian species are not commonly reported due to the lack of commercially available species-specific antibodies. The objectives oIdentification of Aphanomyces invadans, the cause of epizootic ulcerative syndrome, in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Cheat River, West Virginia, USA
The oomycete Aphanomyces invadans (Saprolegniales, Oomycetes), the cause of epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS), is an OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) reportable pathogen, capable of infecting many fish species worldwide in both freshwater and estuarine environments (Iberahim et al. 2018). Since the discovery of EUS in Japan in 1971 (Egusa and Masuda 1971), it has spread globally and caGenome 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
We report 26 genomes of the white sucker hepatitis B virus (WSHBV) from the white sucker, Catostomus commersonii. Genome length ranged from 3541 to 3543 bp and nucleotide identity was 96.7% or greater across genomes. This work suggests a geographical range of this virus that minimally extends from the Athabasca River, 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
Hepatitis B viruses belong to a family of circular, double-stranded DNA viruses that infect a range of organisms, with host responses that vary from mild infection to chronic infection and cancer. The white sucker hepatitis B virus (WSHBV) was first described in the white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), a freshwater teleost, and belongs to the genus Parahepadnavirus. At present, the host range ofNeither microcystin, nor nodularin, nor cylindrospermopsin directly interact with human toll-like receptors
Various stressors including temperature, environmental chemicals, and toxins can have profound impacts on immunity to pathogens. Increased eutrophication near rivers and lakes coupled with climate change are predicted to lead to increased algal blooms. Currently, the effects of cyanobacterial toxins on disease resistance in mammals is a largely unexplored area of research. Recent studies have suggEffects of early life stage exposure of largemouth bass to atrazine or a model estrogen (17α-ethinylestradiol)
Endocrine disrupting contaminants are of continuing concern for potentially contributing to reproductive dysfunction in largemouth and smallmouth bass in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) and elsewhere. Exposures to atrazine (ATR) have been hypothesized to have estrogenic effects on vertebrate endocrine systems. The incidence of intersex in male smallmouth bass from some regions of CBW has been cEndocrine and physiological responses of hatchling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following embryonic exposure to technical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (C10-13)
Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are complex mixtures of polychlorinated n-alkanes, shown to bioaccumulate but with unknown effects in wild birds. The present study examined development-related effects of SCCPs on captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) treated in ovo on embryonic day (ED) 5 by injection with technical Chloroparaffin® (C10-13, 55.5% Cl) at environmentally relevant noEarly life exposure to triphenyl phosphate: Effects on thyroid function, growth, and resting metabolic rate of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks
Triphenyl phosphate (TPHP; CAS # 115-86-6), a commonly used plasticizer and flame retardant, has been reported in wild birds and identified as a potential high-risk chemical. We exposed Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) by in ovo injection, and once hatched, orally each day for 5 days to safflower oil (controls) or TPHP dissolved in vehicle at low (5 ng TPHP/g), mid (50 ng TPHP/g), or high (100 nIn vitro immune function in laboratory-reared age-0 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) relative to diet
Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are used as an indicator species in environmental monitoring and assessment studies. However, laboratory-based studies for methods development and effector assessment are limited for this species. Nutrition, a known modulator of teleost physiological responses including immune function, is a critical knowledge-gap sometimes overlooked in the design of laboratManaging the trifecta of disease, climate, and contaminants: Searching for robust choices under multiple sources of uncertainty
Wood frogs, like other amphibian species worldwide, are experiencing population declines due to multiple stressors. In the northeastern United States, wood frog declines are thought to result from a reduction in successful metamorphosis in part due to climate change, disease (specifically ranavirus) and contaminant exposure. The presence of multiple stressors can increase uncertainty in characteriAtrazine induced transgenerational reproductive effects in medaka (Oryzias latipes)
Atrazine is presently one of the most abundantly used herbicides in the United States, and a common contaminant of natural water bodies and drinking waters in high-use areas. Dysregulation of reproductive processes has been demonstrated in atrazine exposed fish, including alteration of key endocrine pathways on hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. However, the potential for atrazine-induced