Vibrio in Seagrass, Hiddensee. The ecology of potentially pathogenic Vibrio spp. in a seagrass meadow ecosystem

In this study, we investigated the relative abundance and community ecology of Vibrio spp. bacteria in Baltic Sea seagrass meadows using both culturing and culture-independent methods. While we did not detect a significant reduction of Vibrio spp., the highest relative abundances of Vibrio spp. were observed in the water column above seagrass meadows as compared to unvegetated sites. We also detected high relative abundances of Vibrio spp. on seagrass roots, supporting previous observations that new surfaces are selectively colonized by Vibrio spp., implying that these habitats are important for the persistence and possibly release of Vibrio spp. into the water column.