Cyanobacteria - the missing link in vibriosis spread

Climate change is implicated in the spread of vibriosis, a group of diseases caused by Vibrio bacteria.

Due to rising temperatures, the climate suitability for Vibrio has increased worldwide, with ecosystem-wide impacts on humans and animals.

However, in addition to the direct stimulation of Vibrio growth, the changing climate affects other ecosystem components, such as bloom-forming cyanobacteria, that provide habitat and mediate Vibrio persistence in the so-called ecological reservoirs.

In such systems, the infiltration of vibrios to groundwater is more likely, and additional pressures, e.g., plastic pollution, accelerate the spread of these bacteria.We propose to develop a framework for the assessment of Vibrio ecological reservoirs and to apply this framework for predicting the diversity and load of Vibrio in ecosystems with regular cyanobacteria blooms.

A team of ecologists, microbiologists, chemists, and hydrologists will explore the role of cyanobacteria-driven Vibrio propagation across the freshwater and brackish systems in the Baltic region and Africa.

We will also link Vibrio communities in the surface waters to those in groundwater, and evaluate how plastic litter and water use behavior of humans may affect Vibrio persistence in countries with water scarcity.

Our findings will contribute to capacity building for microbiological monitoring in developing countries and the development of ecosystem-based management of water resources in Africa.