Vibrios associated with plankton in a coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea (Italy)

Abstract

From April 1996 through March 1997, culturable vibrios associated with both large (>200 μm) and small (0.45–200 μm) size plankton collected in the Ancona, Italy, coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea were studied. Vibrio alginolyticus was readily cultured from large size plankton from July to September and represented the only Vibrio species that could be cultured under the conditions employed in the study. Crustaceans (mainly copepods) and tunicates (Oikopleura spp.) comprised the larger sized plankton, with copepods being 90% of the total plankton population in the summer months. Diatoms (Chaetoceros spp.) were also present but in lower numbers. Vibrios associated with smaller sized plankton comprised mainly V. alginolyticus during June–September and in March, whereas Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from samples collected in April, May, and March. The smaller size plankton comprised predominantly tintinnids, nauplii of crustaceans and exuvia of copepods. These results confirm the role of zooplankton as hosts of vibrios in the environment, and suggest that smaller sized plankton may serve as an important reservoir of these bacteria.

Effects of Global Warming onVibrioEcology

“…Field studies conducted worldwide over the last 40 years have shown such a relationship (42,43,44,45). As an example, results from different studies conducted over the period from 1995 to 2004 along the central-northern Italian Adriatic coast (46,47,48,49) showed that culturable vibrios (mainly the species Vibrio alginolyticus) were abundant in this area during the warmest months, when SST ranged from about 18°C to about 25°C. They were not present or were present in very low concentration during winter.…”

Environmental Predictors of Pathogenic Vibrios in South Florida Coastal Waters

“…Vibrio species are ubiquitous to marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments [2]. Utilizing existing wounds [3,4] and ingestion of contaminated water or seafood [5] as their major routes of infection, vibrios can cause enteric diseases, wound infections, and bloodstream invasion in vulnerable individuals [6,7].…”

Adhesion of Enterococcus faecalis in the Nonculturable State to Plankton Is the Main Mechanism Responsible for Persistence of This Bacterium in both Lake and Seawater

“…Another recently identified strategy which enables human pathogens to survive and persist when released in water is the ability to adhere to chitin-containing surfaces, such as those of zooplanktonic organisms (1,3,13,15,16,26,30,37,38). This strategy has been analyzed in detail for Vibrio cholerae and for other vibrios which are causative agents of human pathologies.…”