Associations Between Vibrio and the Planktonic Community Throughout Tampa Bay

Date

2019

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Department of Biology, College of Natural and Health Sciences, The University of Tampa

Abstract

Vibrio is a genus of bacteria whose species naturally inhabit warm, marine waters throughout the world. Many of these species are pathogenic to humans, which makes predicting outbreaks of vital importance. Considerable information is still being discovered about Vibrio ecology, therefore additional studies of Vibrio in the marine environment are necessary. Previous relationships between Vibrio species, the planktonic community, and environmental factors have been described, but these relationships have not been explored in Tampa Bay. Zooplankton tows were performed at six different locations in Tampa Bay. Three sites were located in the inner bay, while three were closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Whole water samples and environmental parameters were also collected from each site. Zooplankton samples were separated into two classes: copepods and copepod nauplii and resuspended in sterile saline. Whole water samples were diluted to 10􀀀1, 10mL, and 20mL. Zooplankton and water samples were vacuum filtered, and the filter paper plated on Thiosulfate-Citrate-Bile-Sucrose (TCBS) agar plates. The plates were incubated at 37 C for 24 hours and assessed for growth. Associations between Vibrio and the planktonic community, as well as patterns in environmental factors provide valuable insight to the bacterial community of Tampa Bay.

Description

Recommended Citation: Johnson, Heather. “Associations Between Vibrio and the Planktonic Community Throughout Tampa Bay.” Acta Spartae, 2019. https://doi.org/10.48497/ZGTC-BE07.

Keywords

Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES::Biology::Terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology, Vibrio, Bay ecology--Florida--Tampa Bay Region, Bacteria

Citation

Johnson, Heather. “Associations Between Vibrio and the Planktonic Community Throughout Tampa Bay.” Acta Spartae, 2019. https://doi.org/10.48497/ZGTC-BE07.