Vibrio Ecology in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, Characterized by Next-Generation Amplicon Sequencing of the Gene Encoding Heat Shock Protein 60 ()

Of marine eubacteria, the genus is intriguing because member species are relevant to both marine ecology and human health. Many studies have touted the relationships of to environmental factors, especially temperature and salinity, to predict total abundance but lacked the taxonomic resolution to identify the relationships among species and the key drivers of dynamics. To improve next-generation sequencing (NGS) surveys of , we have conducted both 16S small subunit rRNA and heat shock protein 60 () amplicon sequencing of water samples collected at two well-studied locations in the Neuse River Estuary, NC. Samples were collected between May and December 2016 with enhanced sampling efforts in response to two named storms. Using sequences, 21 species were identified, including the potential human pathogens , , and Changes in the community mirrored seasonal and storm-related changes in the water column, especially in response to an influx of nutrient-rich freshwater to the estuary after Hurricane Matthew, which initiated dramatic changes in the overall community. Individual species dynamics were wide ranging, indicating that individual taxa have unique ecologies and that total abundance predictors are insufficient for risk assessments of potentially pathogenic species. Positive relationships between , dinoflagellates, and were identified, as were intraspecies associations, which further illuminated the interactions of cooccurring taxa along environmental gradients. The objectives of this research were to utilize a novel approach to improve sequence-based surveys of communities and to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach by presenting an analysis of dynamics in the context of environmental conditions, with a particular focus on species that cause disease in humans and on storm effects. The methods presented here enabled the analysis of dynamics with excellent taxonomic resolution and could be incorporated into future ecological studies and risk prediction strategies for potentially pathogenic species. Next-generation sequencing of and other innovative sequence-based approaches are valuable tools and show great promise for studying ecology and associated public health risks.