# The effects of climate change on the natural attenuation and sedimentary record of harmful algal bloom toxins and microbial signals

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2021 · $153,034

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Project Description and Objectives: This project is responsive to the RFA mandate to examine the relationship
between climate change and harmful algal blooms. The goal of Project 3 is to examine the role of natural
attenuation in the context of the fate of extracellular secondary metabolites generated by harmful algal blooms
and adjacent microbial communities. This is done with a focus to measuring the effects of climate change on
the attenuation rate of microbial signals involved with quorum sensing; changes in harmful algal toxin
expression (focusing on microcystins and anatoxin) as a function of algal culture exposure to the common
multispecies signals autoinducer-2 and the acyl homoserine lactones, degradation of extracellular toxins in the
water column and at sediments surfaces, and correlating the sedimentary record of buried toxins with past
meteorological conditions. The kinetics and products of microbial signal degradation will be determined based
on multifactorial environmental modeling experiments (including photochemical, hydrolytic and sediment-
catalyzed processes). Harmful algal cultures will be interrogated for the presence of endogenous microbial
signals, and their response to the addition of exogenous microbial signals will be determined, particularly
focusing on the yield and type of toxin expressed. The kinetics and products of algal toxin degradation will be
determined based on multifactorial environmental modeling experiments (including photochemical, hydrolytic
and sediment-catalyzed processes). The concentration of microbial signals, toxins, and distinctive degradation
products of both will be determined in natural water from Lake Waco, Waco TX with sampling sites chosen in
consultation with Project 2. The concentration of harmful algal bloom toxins will also be determined in
sediment cores dated using 210Pb. Initial core studies will focus on Lake Waco, enabling comparison of 210Pb,
local meteorological records and historical records of algal blooms. Subsequent exploratory sediment
analyses will be performed on cores withdrawn from a series of storm water retention ponds in SC that are
known to have occasional harmful algal blooms but are not routinely monitored. The overall goal of this Project
is to measure the environmental effects and persistence of extracellular metabolites critical to harmful algal
blooms at both baseline conditions and those predicted as a result of climate change.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10218176
- **Project number:** 5P01ES028942-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** John L. Ferry
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $153,034
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10218176

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10218176, The effects of climate change on the natural attenuation and sedimentary record of harmful algal bloom toxins and microbial signals (5P01ES028942-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10218176. Licensed CC0.

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