title: Seagrass ecosystems reduce exposure to bacterial pathogens of humans, fishes, and invertebrates.
abstract: Plants are important in urban environments for removing pathogens and improving water quality. Seagrass meadows are the most widespread coastal ecosystem on the planet. Although these plants are known to be associated with natural biocide production, they have not been evaluated for their ability to remove microbiological contamination. Using amplicon sequencing of the 16Sribosomal RNA gene, we found that when seagrass meadows are present, there was a 50% reduction in the relative abundance of potential bacterial pathogens capable of causing disease in humans and marine organisms. Moreover, field surveys of more than 8000 reef-building corals located adjacent to seagrass meadows showed twofold reductions in disease levels compared to corals at paired sites without adjacent seagrass meadows. These results highlight the importance of seagrass ecosystems to the health of humans and other organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. joleah.lamb@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Joleah B
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7005-9994
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|Department of Marine Biology, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco.
authors.forename: Jeroen A J M
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6974-2270
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van de Water
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.|College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: David G
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1492-8710
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Bourne
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3740-9163
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Altier
authors.affiliation: College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaux Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Evan A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5421-0148
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Fiorenza
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Nur
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7540-1990
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Jamaluddin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9740-333X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jompa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors.forename: C Drew
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8905-9847
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Harvell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000382:microbiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D044822:Biodiversity; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology*; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D000069578:Waterborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S