Audrey Roy-Lachapelle, PhD
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cyanotoxins in High Resolution: From the Known to the Unknown
Abstract
Eutrophication of waterways leads to harmful algal blooms, often associated with cyanotoxins like microcystins. Other bioactive cyanopeptides, such as anabaenopeptins, also occur during these events. Over 500 cyanopeptides, including 300+ microcystins, have been identified, but their complexity and the lack of reference standards hinder understanding of their production and impact on human health and biodiversity. Our lab has developed targeted, suspect, and non-targeted approaches to explore the diversity and fate of cyanotoxins and cyanopeptides produced by cyanobacteria. By integrating in-silico fragmentation modeling with CyanoMetDB, an open-access database of over 2,600 cyanobacterial compounds, we have facilitated the characterization of both known and novel cyanotoxins. These methods are applied to toxic cyanobacteria in the Lake Saint-Pierre and Yamaska River watersheds as part of the Saint-Lawrence Action Plan. Our goals are to better understand their impacts on aquatic biodiversity within the context of eutrophication and to investigate their cumulative interactions with other agricultural contaminants.
Biosketch
Audrey Roy-Lachapelle holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Analytical Chemistry with a specialization in the study of cyanotoxins using mass spectrometry from the University of Montreal under the supervision of researcher Sébastien Sauvé. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship as part of the ATRAPP project, focusing on harmful algal blooms through chemistry and genomics, in collaboration with the University of Montreal and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Currently, Audrey is a research associate at Environment and Climate Change Canada in Montreal, within the Aquatic Contaminants Research Division, working on the study of agricultural contamination and its impacts on aquatic ecosystems and eutrophication in the Saint-Lawrence watershed.
Date
Date(s) - January 21, 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Emplacement / Location
Université de Montréal - Campus MIL (Beer and pizza at 18h, conference at 19h in A-4502)