Dan Rittschof

The broad field of microbiome science, though it wasn’t called that, has permeated my studies in chemical ecology, biofouling and toxicology since the 1980s. In chemical ecology, exoenzymes from microbes generate information molecules that organize marine communities. Microbiomes are one of the two major classes of marine biofouling and a biofouling level that has never been successfully managed. In toxicology, microbiome composition are one kind of information that provides insight into the nature of acutely toxic compounds that leach from proprietary materials like plastics and coatings. In the future they will become an important measure of environmental health and food safety.

The coordination and organization of important life functions (larval settlement, larval release, spawning movements, resource acquisition, predator avoidance, breeding and spawning aggregations, estuarine communities) by chemicals is my research focus. The functions, mechanisms, and evolution of chemical signaling systems supporting symbiosis writ large provide a theoretical framework. Laboratory and field studies probe chemically stimulated behaviors, chemical ecology and impacts of xenobiotics on pheromone and kairomone signaling and response systems. All of these activities are mediated by exoenzymes secreted by microbiomes or by macro-organisms to minimize microbiomes.

My current basic science focus is on kairomones and pheromones; compounds used by marine organisms to modulate larval settlement, breeding, navigation, movement and resource exploitation. I am actively studying signaling peptides, substituted amino sugars, volatile water soluble signals and disruption of signal transduction cascades by pharmaceuticals. Most recently we have begun to probe the enzymology and heritability of natural adhesive polymerization. Hydrolysis products of biopolymers generated from structural proteins by exoenzymes from bacterial consortia associated with egg capsules, periostraca and bioadhesives are pheromones and kairomones for many marine organisms. The ultimate goal of these studies is to understand the mechanisms and evolution of signaling systems and symbiosis in the broadest sense.

My current applied foci are: curing of biological glues, their interactions with novel materials; toxicology of plastics, informing processes with the use of microbial forensics; informing floating oyster aquaculture with respect to pathogens and parasites; impacts of cosmetics and sunscreens on marine larvae.

Finally, at a larger scale, evolution of signaling systems and microbial/macrobial symbiosis in the broadest sense. An example of the later is the chemical mediation of oyster reef development due to cue and pheromones generated by microbiomes associated with oysters and other members of oyster reef communities.