The presence of Vibrio cholerae 01 (Pacini, 1854) in its culturable and nonculturable stages was studied in water, sediment, plankton and mussel samples, from January to August 1995 in Todos Santos Bay, BC, Mexico. Fifty-two samples were analyzed without finding V. cholerae 01; however, non-01 V. cholerae was present in 28.8% of the samples. Forty-three strains of non-01 V. cholerae were isolated, 44% from plankton, 37% from water and 19% from sediment. Non-O 1 V. cholerae was not detected in mussel samples. The highest bacterial concentrations of coliforms, heterotrophic bacteria, Vibrio-like bacteria and the highest number of non-01 V. cholerae were found in the northern part of the bay. The lowest incidence of non-01 V. cholerae, as well as the lowest concentrations of the other bacterial groups were found in the southern part of the bay, where mussels are commercially cultured.

Fungi are recognized as indigenous microbes in natural hypersaline habitats. Aspergillus sp, among other fungi, is predominant in those environments; however, their adaptative abilities are recently studied. This study analyzes the transcriptomic response of an obligate halophile Aspergillus loretoensis under two salinity conditions (4% and 15% NaCl). This fungus shows stress under the low NaCl concentration tested since it overexpresses genes like SOD2 (oxidative stress and oxygen toxicity), ASG (resistance to salinity), and transmembrane transport (ZRT2, OAC1, PMA1, ZRC1, SNQ2, MCH4, YO075, SIT1). Meanwhile, at 15% NaCl, the up-regulated genes at 15% NaCl were related to osmolytes transport (STL1, HXT13, ZRT1), carbohydrate transport, and metabolism (MAL11, PK1, ITR1), all suggesting their adaptive conditions. This fungus expresses interesting metabolic enzymes with potential uses in biotechnology as invertases, isomerases, maltases, and lipases. As well it showed biosynthetic pathways related to oil degradation and antibiotic production.