SGER: Impacts of Hurricane Katrina on Water Quality and Bacterial Communities in Southeastern Louisiana

0553138次拉蒙太古飓风对沿海系统的地质产生了长期和持久的影响。生态学家还研究了飓风对水生系统的影响(Valiela等人，1996年；Pairl等人，2003年)，但以前没有研究侧重于飓风可能发生的细菌动态。这项提议侧重于细菌动力学，这是出于基本的生态学原因，也是因为对人类健康的担忧。已经有迹象表明，在卡特里娜飓风过后，细菌的反应是重要的和巨大的。尤其是受到传染病威胁的还包括强毒病原体创伤弧菌。这种病原体是墨西哥湾北部的地方病(凯利，1982)，似乎是卡特里娜飓风影响地区几起死亡事件的罪魁祸首。在这项研究中，我们建议对新奥尔良上方和邻近的水域进行采样，以量化卡特里娜飓风对这一关键系统的影响。我们将通过分析聚合酶链式反应扩增的核糖体基因的末端限制性片段多态(TRFLP)来分析细菌群落结构。我们产生的TRFLP将使我们能够识别这个系统中的优势细菌，并量化粪便对微生物区系的相对贡献。我们将通过分析颗粒有机物中自然产生的稳定同位素来跟踪人类污染信号，因为它进入了食物网络。

0553138 LaMontague Hurricanes have long and lasting effects on the geology of coastal systems. Ecologists have also examined the effects of hurricanes on aquatic systems (Valiela et al., 1996; Paerl et al., 2003), but no previous studies have focused on bacterial dynamics that may occur in response to hurricanes. This proposal focuses on bacterial dynamics for basic ecological reasons, but also because of human health concerns. There are already signs that the bacterial responses are important and large in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Especially there is a threat from infectious disease also includes the virulent pathogen, Vibrio vulnificans. This pathogen is endemic in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Kelly, 1982), and appears responsible for several fatalities in areas effected by Hurricane Katrina.In this study, we propose to sample the waters overlying and adjoining New Orleans, to quantify the effects of Hurricane Katrina on this critical system. We will analyze bacterial community structure by analysis of terminal restriction fragment polymorphisms (TRFLP) of PCR-amplified ribosomal genes. The TRFLPs we generate will allow us to identify the dominant bacteria in this system and quantify the relative contribution of feces to the microbiota. We will track human contamination signals, as it enters into the food web, by analysis of naturally occurring stable isotopes in particulate organic matter.