Acronym POLARISATION
Category
Fisheries
Title Polar cod, lipid metabolism and disruption by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Jasmine Nahrgang Coordinator email jasmine.m.nahrgang@uit.no
Coordinator institution
UiT - The Arctic University of Norway (Norway)
Institutions involved
Akvaplan-niva - Akvaplan-niva AS (Norway) ,
RAS - Institute of Biology of the Karelian Research Centre (Russian Federation) ,
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States of America) ,
NA - Norwegian Polar Institute (Norway) ,
NVH - Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (Norway) ,
UNIVPM - Polytechnic University of Marche (Italy) ,
NA - Unilab Analyse AS (Norway) ,
UPV/EHU - Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea) (Spain) ,
UNIS - University Centre in Svalbard (Norway) ,
UiB - University of Bergen (Norway) ,
UHULL - University of Hull (United Kingdom) ,
Start year 2012 End year 2015 Funding (€) € 1,910,276 Website http://site.uit.no/polarisation/ Summary Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) is considered a key species in the arctic marine ecosystem (Crawford and Jørgensen, 1996). Although several studies have focused on its life cycle strategies (e.g. Fortier et al. 2006, Geoffroy et al. in press), we still lack a broader insight into its ecological and physiological characteristics and sensitivity towards both environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Lipid metabolism in particular is highly important in polar organisms (Falk-Petersen et al. 2009), but is a topic that has been poorly studied for the polar cod as well as its potential disruption by contaminants such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Considering the crucial role lipids play for both survival during the polar night and for reproduction, the herein proposed project aims at elucidating some key basic research questions regarding polar cod: Do PAHs disrupt lipid homeostasis in polar cod and is the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) implicated in this toxicity? What are the long-term consequences of PAH exposure on key physiological processes such as growth and reproduction. Furthermore, the diet plays an important role as exposure route to contaminants; however the bioavailability of ingested PAHs and factors affecting it are largely misunderstood due to the primary focus given to waterborne exposures. Thus, the project will also determine the importance of exogenous and endogenous factors in the uptake of PAHs through this route of exposure. The project leader and her team have considerable experience working with polar cod, both experimentally and in the field. Within Arctic science today (see WP4), they constitute the most experienced and best fitted group to answer these basic research questions, and will through the project both promote scientific renewal and utilize state-of-the-art advancements through the experimental designs.
Keywords
Toxic substances;
Impacts;
Fish biology;
Fish;
Cod;
Marine Region
41
Norwegian Sea (27.IIa)
14
Skagerrak, Kattegat (27.IIIa)
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
42
Barents Sea (27.I)
4
Marine Region Map
