Domoic acid (DA) is a potent neurotoxin produced by diatoms in the genus pseudo-nitzschia (PN)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $2.802 million Cooperative Agreement to the University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography on June 1, 2026 under the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research Coastal Ocean Program (CFDA 11.478).

The award funds a comprehensive research program to quantify the oceanographic and genetic factors that regulate, promote, and forecast domoic acid (DA) biosynthesis in Pseudo-nitzschia diatoms. DA is a potent neurotoxin responsible for harmful algal blooms along the California coast that have stranded over one thousand marine mammals, shut down commercial and recreational Dungeness crab and spiny lobster fishing seasons, and triggered annual shellfish harvest advisories to protect human health. The research builds on prior work identifying the specific DA biosynthesis genes that appear to be core drivers of DA toxicity, addressing a key knowledge gap in understanding the mechanistic factors that regulate gene expression and enable predictive capabilities for DA forecasting and management.

The period of performance runs from June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2031, with work performed in La Jolla, California at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Competitive Research Program funds peer-reviewed, collaborative research that produces actionable science and tools supporting management and policy decisions for protection of public health, coastal ecosystems, and community economic vitality, including harmful algal bloom response.

In recent years, toxic PN blooms have occurred with increased frequency and duration along the CA coast. For example, conditions in 2015 resulted in the largest recorded PN bloom to date in the north pacific while two significant events in 2022 and 2023 resulted in over a thousand stranded california sea lions and record-high animal-borne DA levels. There is an urgent need to improve region-wide DA toxin risk management to safeguard public health, promote viable and sustainable fisheries, and protect living marine resources. DA has become a critical and relentless hazard for pinniped and cetacean populations in coastal california (anderson ET AL. 2023), has routinely shut down the dungeness crab and spiny lobster recreational and commercial fishing seasons with devastating economic consequences (e.g. mccabe ET AL. 2016), and is responsible for annual recreational shellfish harvest advisories to protect human health over the last four years. Following our foundational discovery of the DA biosynthetic pathway in various PN species (brunson ET AL., science, 2018), our ECOHAB19 work identified in situ the specific DA biosynthesis genes that appear to be the core driver of DA toxicity, revealing a new potential strategy for DA forecasting and management. However, a key knowledge GAP remains in our understanding of the mechanistic factors that regulate expression of these genes as well as molecular characterization of toxic blooms necessary for advancing predictive capabilities. In order to address this challenge, we propose a comprehensive research program to quantify the oceanographic and genetic factors that regulate, promote, and forecast DA biosynthesis. We will undertake four primary research activities to increase our understanding of the oceanographic, physiological, and genetic factors and mechanisms that regulate and promote DA biosynthesis and to test hypotheses and predictions that hold the key to essential discoveries for responding to and mitigating DA events in the southern and central california current system (CCS): 1) investigation into genetic, enzymatic, and physiological regulation of DA production in laboratory cultures; 2) comparative physiology and biogeography of the southern and central CCS, including impacts of the 2024 enso season and ensuing shift to either neutral or LA NIA conditions in 2025-2027; 3) examination of the diversity and ecological genomics of PN in situ using state-of-the-art autonomous sampling and water column profiling technology, including optimization of state-of-the-art nanophononics technology for multi-omic detection and quantitation of DA and molecular biomarkers that forecast DA production; 4) synthesis of results into data products and outputs useful for management entities. We expect that this tightly integrated, multidisciplinary approach will result in a transformative new view of genetic, physiological, and oceanographic issues related to forecasting and mitigating the impact of future regional HAB events.