A perfect ‘pathogen’ storm: Vibrio bacteria, Sargassum and plastic marine debris
A new study uncovers how the interplay between Sargassum spp., plastic marine debris and Vibrio bacteria creates the perfect "pathogen" storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Vibrio bacteria are found in waters around the world and are the dominant cause of death in humans from the marine environment.
For example, Vibrio vulnificus, sometimes referred to as flesh-eating bacteria, can cause life-threatening foodborne illnesses from seafood consumption as well as disease and death from open wound infections.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and collaborators fully sequenced the genomes of 16 Vibrio cultivars isolated from eel larvae, plastic marine debris, Sargassum, and seawater samples collected from the Caribbean and Sargasso seas of the North Atlantic Ocean. What they discovered is Vibrio pathogens have the unique ability to "stick" to microplastics and that these microbes might just be adapting to plastic.