Boat Donation Aids Research on DNA Damage to Maine Fish
Blake Whitaker, associate professor of natural and applied
sciences at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College (LAC), is using
genetic analysis to determine the amount of damage that has
been done to fish in the Androscoggin River by chemical contamination.
He will be extending his research this summer to the Kennebec
and Penobscot Rivers.
To assist Whitaker and his students in catching the fish for their research, the team is using a Bass Tracker Pro Team 185 Jet boat loaned for the project by Steve Mason of Tracker Marine in Springfield, MO. It is a fully equipped fishing boat, driven by a 175 horsepower Mercury water jet engine, with trolling motor, depth-finder, and instruments. The loan included a drive-on trailer for launching and recovery. Tracker Marine will provide a new Jet, which retails for over $14,000, for each of the next three seasons.
For years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set safety standards for man-made (anthropogenic) chemicals based on studies of single chemicals under laboratory conditions. By 1998, scientists had realized that these chemicals exist in the environment as complex mixtures in which certain combinations may have synergistic toxic effects. Other combinations cancel one another out, resulting in a less toxic mixture.
To see how toxic chemical mixtures in Maine rivers are, Whitaker and his students are taking samples of smallmouth bass from rivers and streams throughout the state. They extract a very small amount of blood from an anesthetized fish, store the sample on ice, and release the fish. The blood sample is analyzed for the amount of damage to the DNA of the fish caused by the chemicals. Another genetic analysis is used to determine whether the fish taken in the samples are related to each other. Whitaker’s hypothesis is that populations of fish in a highly polluted environment have survived a selection pressure, and thus are genetically distinct, whether in better or worse shape, from other fish in the river. Last year, he examined about 200 fish. He also will look at loons, ospreys and eagles that eat fish.
Whitaker, who holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, was the president and scientific founder of ImmuNet, a biotech company, from 1993-1997. He joined LAC in 1997.
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