title: Environmental and Sanitary Conditions of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro.
abstract: Guanabara Bay is the second largest bay in the coast of Brazil, with an area of 384 km(2). In its surroundings live circa 16 million inhabitants, out of which 6 million live in Rio de Janeiro city, one of the largest cities of the country, and the host of the 2016 Olympic Games. Anthropogenic interference in Guanabara Bay area started early in the XVI century, but environmental impacts escalated from 1930, when this region underwent an industrialization process. Herein we present an overview of the current environmental and sanitary conditions of Guanabara Bay, a consequence of all these decades of impacts. We will focus on microbial communities, how they may affect higher trophic levels of the aquatic community and also human health. The anthropogenic impacts in the bay are flagged by heavy eutrophication and by the emergence of pathogenic microorganisms that are either carried by domestic and/or hospital waste (e.g., virus, KPC-producing bacteria, and fecal coliforms), or that proliferate in such conditions (e.g., vibrios). Antibiotic resistance genes are commonly found in metagenomes of Guanabara Bay planktonic microorganisms. Furthermore, eutrophication results in recurrent algal blooms, with signs of a shift toward flagellated, mixotrophic groups, including several potentially harmful species. A recent large-scale fish kill episode, and a long trend decrease in fish stocks also reflects the bay's degraded water quality. Although pollution of Guanabara Bay is not a recent problem, the hosting of the 2016 Olympic Games propelled the government to launch a series of plans to restore the bay's water quality. If all plans are fully implemented, the restoration of Guanabara Bay and its shores may be one of the best legacies of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovana O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Fistarol
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Felipe H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula B
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tainá
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Venas
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cánovas
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio E M
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: de Paula
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: de Moura
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jean Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Valentin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Tenenbaum
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paranhos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rogério de A B
authors.initials: Rde A
authors.lastname: do Valle
authors.affiliation: Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina P
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Amado Filho
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Marine Chemical Ecology, Insitute of Biology, Federal Fluminense University Niteroi, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato Crespo
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Enzimology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasília Brasília, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Sciences (LCA-UENF), Campos Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Rezende
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiane C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Salomon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Laboratório de Sistemas Avançados de Gestão da Produção, COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiano L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Thompson
keywords: Guanabara Bay; anthropogenic impacts; bacteria; microalgae; pollution; sanitary conditions