Environmental heterogeneity drives ecological differentiation in Vibrio populations across subtropical marine habitats

Elucidating how environmental gradients structure bacterial communities remains fundamental to microbial ecology. We investigated Vibrio population dynamics across contrasting subtropical marine environments in Hong Kong over a 12-month period (2020-2021). Using an integrated approach combining cultivation techniques with molecular analyses of Hsp60 and 16S rRNA genes, we characterized population structure between a coastal site (Clear Water Bay) and an estuarine site (Deep Bay)