Date of Award
Winter 2010
Project Type
Thesis
Program or Major
Microbiology
Degree Name
Master of Science
First Advisor
Cheryl Whistler
Abstract
Within the last two decades the number of gastroenteritis seafood-borne outbreaks due to Vibrio species has increased. These infections are usually caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked shellfish. I took two approaches to describe the ecology of Vibrios in the Great Bay Estuary, Durham, New Hampshire. First, I performed a phenotypic and multi-locus sequence analysis of 31 V. cholerae strains isolated from oysters, water and sediment in 2008 and 2009. I concluded that the V. cholerae population is endemic, diverse and highly recombinatory, but none of the isolates contain the virulence markers indicative of clinical strains. Next, I performed a metagenetic microbial census of 39 individual oysters and the overlying water from the Nannie Island and Oyster River oyster beds. I concluded that the microbial populations in the oyster are differential from the overlying water. Furthermore, the microbial populations structure in V. parahaemolyticus contaminated oysters contain unique signatures.
Recommended Citation
Schuster, Brian Michael, "Microbial interactions with oysters from the Great Bay Estuary: Characterization of endemic Vibrio choleraeand oyster metagenetics" (2010). Master's Theses and Capstones. 611.
https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/611