title: Daily variations in pathogenic bacterial populations in a monsoon influenced tropical environment.
abstract: Changing climatic conditions have influenced the monsoon pattern in recent years. Variations in bacterial population in one such tropical environment were observed everyday over two years and point out intra and inter annual changes driven by the intensity of rainfall. Vibrio spp. were abundant during the monsoon and so were faecal coliforms. Vibrio alginolyticus were negatively influenced by nitrate, whereas, silicate and rainfall positively influenced Vibrio parahaemolyticus numbers. It is also known that pathogenic bacteria are associated with the plankton. Changes in the abundance of plankton, which are governed mainly by environmental changes, could be responsible for variation in pathogenic bacterial abundance during monsoon, other than the land runoff due to precipitation and influx of fresh water.
authors.affiliation: CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
authors.forename: Lidita
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Khandeparker
authors.affiliation: CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India. Electronic address: acanil@nio.org.
authors.forename: Arga Chandrashekar
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Anil
authors.affiliation: CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
authors.forename: Sneha D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.affiliation: CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, India.
authors.forename: Chetan C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Gaonkar
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D004777:Environment; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D010933:Plankton / Q000254:growth & development*; D014329:Tropical Climate; D044149:Vibrio alginolyticus; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Enterococcus faecalis; Estuary; Monsoon; Pathogenic bacteria; Total coliforms; Vibrio spp.