Characterization of bacterial communities in tourist ports in the Mediterranean Sea Basin

Port areas pose major concerns due to the presence of toxic pollutants and to their harmful effects on the marine ecosystems and human ealth. Hydrocarbon contamination, associated with the heavy boat traffic and related facilities, is one of the major environmental problems. Moreover, tourist ports are subject to seasonal massive impact. This work is part of a multidisciplinary characterization of the tourist ports of Cagliari IT, El Kantaoui TN, Heraklion GR, carried out within the MAPMED project aimed to improve the environmental sustainability of tourist coastal areas in the Mediterranean Sea Basin with regard to monitoring and reduction of marine hydrocarbon pollution. Two sampling campaigns were carried out during winter and late spring, before the touristic season, and a third one is planned after the touristic season. In each port, samples of seawater, superficial and anoxic sediments were collected at different stations. A combination of culture-dependent (MPN of different metabolic groups) and -independent approaches (T-RFLP of 16S rRNA gene and other genes) has been employed in order to define the seasonal and spatial variations in the Bacteria and Archaea communities