Dr. Lisa A Waidner

Bacteria in the Vibrio vulnificus genus are known to cause serious illness in humans, including both gastrointestinal disease and open wound infection, and even septicemia if the infections are aggressive, left unchecked, or in immunocompromised individuals. They’re found naturally in estuaries and coastal waters.
There are multiple ways humans can be exposed to these bacteria such as through open wounds when in seawater or estuary water with high (~>30 Cells/mL) abundances, or through consuming raw or undercooked seafood such as oysters.
The aim of this study was to measure and record data of the environmental factors that may influence bacterial abundances and distribution of this particular group of bacteria. Environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, and total suspended solids, as well as meteorological conditions including wind speed, wind gust, and air temperature have been shown to have positive correlation with change in V.v abundance within the Pensacola Bay system (Potdukhe 2021).

Vibrio vulnificus bacteria are naturally found in estuaries and marine waters. These bacteria can enter human hosts through open wounds or undercooked or raw seafood, such as oysters, and cause serious illness. We have been collecting oyster samples and environmental data to determine how different factors influence Vibrio abundances in oysters in Bayou Texar and Pensacola Bay. By collecting multiple forms of data, we hope to build upon existing models with a variety of environmental factors. One of those factors is wind speed and comparing it to total suspended solids (TSS) which may give insight into the reasoning of higher values. Seagrass density is another parameter we are examining, since this is an under-researched aspect of ecosystems that may affect Vibrio densities. A variety of meteorological and hydrological data have been collected over the duration of the project including temperature, precipitation, wind, and tidal data. By analyzing all of these factors at play, we hope to paint a clearer picture of the different attributes that affect Vibrio
vulnificus abundance in oysters and the water.

The Gamma primer showed nonspecific primer annealing, the literature information will be checked in order to find out if the correct sequence was used to predict optimal parameters. With the correct parameters for the CYB primer, this one will proceed to be used with the samples of Thalassia testudinum and Halodule wrightii from Santa Rosa Sound to continue the study on nitrogen fixation by epiphytes. The next steps are to finish DNA extraction of epiphytes from the seagrass blades collected and use these primers to identify the presence of the nifH genes.