Subproject 子项目 2
Diversity and abundances of marine Vibrio species and their phages in aquaculture systems and dispersal in coastal ecosystems.
PD Dr. Matthias Labrenz (IOW), Dr. Günter Jost (IOW), Lars Möller (IOW), Dr. Zhuhua Luo (TIO)
Aquaculture is of growing importance especially at Hainan. The resulting regional accumulation of fish and seafood is associated with an accumulation of microorganisms within both, seawater and seafood. Given that marine animals are usually natural reservoirs also of pathogenic microorganisms, mostly belonging to the genus Vibrio, aquaculture can by this significantly enrich pathogenic bacteria. As consequences (1) higher concentrations of pathogens in aquacultures enhance the potential exchange of genetic information between these microorganisms and can lead to an enrichment of virulence factors; (2) aquaculture may release high doses of accordant pathogenic bacteria into the marine environment, with severe negative effects on, for instance, tourism; (3) the aquaculture itself can die off. Thus, one of the constraints for the further development of aquaculture is an environment with low pollution by microbial pathogens. Application of antibiotics might decrease specific pathogens but also results in subpopulations of microorganisms becoming increasingly resistant. However, it is already known for decades that bacteria-specific viruses (bacteriophages) also have the potential to control the growth of distinct microbial populations. Thus, we will identify relevant environmental Vibrio-specific bacteriophages, which could substitute antibiotics in aquacultures.