Thiamine (vitamin B1) availability influences community structure and dynamics across scales from microbes to fisheries. This essential coenzyme is required by all living organisms where it functions to catalyze key steps in central carbon metabolism. Despite its universal importance, dissolved concentrations in aquatic systems are frequently in the fempto-pico molar range. Deficiencies in thiamine have been reported in various wildlife in ecosystems across the northern hemisphere. Thiamine deficiency can cause crippling morbidities, neurological problems, and has been linked to early life-stage mortality and large population declines of predatory fishes. Chronic thiamine deficiency has been found in fish species in the Baltic Sea and Laurentian Great Lakes for decades, and more recently was identified as an emerging threat to salmonids from California to Alaska. This session addresses the breadth of thiamine’s impacts with the goal of bringing together investigators from diverse disciplines and geographies to solve pressing thiamine-related challenges.
Organizers:
Freya Rowland, USGS, [email protected]
Samuel Hylander, Linnaeus University
Nathan Mantua, NOAA/NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Christie Nichols, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Rachel Johnson, NOAA Fisheries – UC Davis
David Walters, USGS
Christopher Suffridge, Oregon State University
Cody Pinger, NOAA/NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center