https://caymannewsservice.com/2023/05/new-horror-revealed-in-sargassum-blob/ * Advertising Rates * Comment Policy * Sign up for CNS Newsletter * Donate * Comments * Posts Cayman News Service 114980 * Home + Business + Crime + Health + Local News + Politics + Science & Nature + World News + Viewpoint o About CNS Viewpoints * CNS Archives + News Archives 2008-2014 + Local Life o Ask Auntie o Golden Spoons Restaurant Reviews + CNS Business 2015-2017 + 2017 Elections + 2021 Elections * CNS Library * Contact Us * [Enter Search Terms][search] 114173 116121 115841 New horror revealed in sargassum blob Cayman News | 30/05/2023 | 15 Comments Cayman News ServiceCayman News Service^Sargassum in North Sound (file photo) (CNS): Scientists have discovered that a flesh-eating bacteria is interacting with sargassum and decaying plastic in the ocean, creating the perfect "pathogen" storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have found that the bacteria might be adapting to plastic and living in sargassum, washing up on beaches in a new environmental horror. The seaweed has already been washing up on local shores over the last few weeks. Given the current size of the Atlantic sargassum belt, dubbed the "great blob", as it has grown to reach some 5,500 miles across and is currently moving through our region, we can expect to see much more in the coming months. It is already a major problem for the tourism sector, as visitors complain about the smell and efforts to get rid of it cause beach erosion. The mass of seaweed doubled every month between November and January, according to the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab, which tracks the mass, and a new record for sargassum was set in the Caribbean Sea in April. The Vibrio bacteria, which is now colonising the blob, is found in the ocean the world over and already poses a significant threat, but little is known about the ecological relationship of vibrios with the seaweed and the degrading plastic. "Plastic is a new element that's been introduced into marine environments and has only been around for about 50 years," said Tracy Mincer, PhD, corresponding lead author and an assistant professor of biology at FAU. "Our lab work showed that these Vibrio are extremely aggressive and can seek out and stick to plastic within minutes. We also found that there are attachment factors that microbes use to stick to plastics, and it is the same kind of mechanism that pathogens use." The study, published in the journal Water Research, illustrates that open ocean vibrios represent an up-to-now undescribed group of microbes, some representing potential new species, possessing a blend of pathogenic and low nutrient acquisition genes, reflecting their pelagic habitat and the substrates and hosts they colonise. The study highlighted vertebrate pathogen genes closely related to cholera and non-cholera bacterial strains. Researchers also discovered toxin or "zot" genes, which increase intestinal permeability as the vibrios appear to be getting in through the gut, getting stuck in the intestines and infecting that way. "Another interesting thing we discovered is a set of genes called 'zot' genes, which causes leaky gut syndrome," said Mincer. "If a fish eats a piece of plastic and gets infected by this Vibrio, which then results in a leaky gut and diarrhoea, it's going to release waste nutrients such nitrogen and phosphate that could stimulate sargassum growth and other surrounding organisms." Findings show some Vibrio spp. in this environment have an omnivorous lifestyle, targeting both plant and animal hosts in combination with an ability to persist in oligotrophic conditions. With increased human-sargassum-plastic marine debris interactions, associated microbial flora of these substrates could harbour potent opportunistic pathogens. Importantly, some cultivation-based data show that beached sargassum appears to harbour high amounts of Vibrio bacteria. "I don't think, at this point, anyone has really considered these microbes and their capability to cause infections," said Mincer. "We really want to make the public aware of these associated risks. In particular, caution should be exercised regarding the harvest and processing of sargassum biomass until the risks are explored more thoroughly." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Share your vote! * * * * * No, thanks. Comments (15) Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed 1. anon says: 30/05/2023 at 4:18 pm "waste nutrients" - there's my oxymoron for the day. [green-thum] [red-thumb] 1 Reply 2. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 4:05 pm Gots to legalize it! [green-thum] [red-thumb] Reply 3. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 1:50 pm Considering how stink beached Sargassum becomes I am not at all surprised it contains such bacteria and can cause infections. [green-thum] 7 [red-thumb] Reply 4. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 1:12 pm all thanks to industrialised farming and meat production. stop eating meat....bad for people, bad for anicmals and terrible for the planet. [green-thum] 7 [red-thumb] 15 Reply + Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 2:34 pm been there done that. I only thrive on meat. Nearly died on green smoothies. Besides, millions tons of pesticides, insecticide and all other crap goes into growing " green" stuff. Millions of bugs, butterflies, small critters die during harvesting. Human brain needs animal fat to properly function. No agenda can change that. [green-thum] 5 [red-thumb] 2 Reply o Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 4:04 pm ok...you will die younger then. [green-thum] [red-thumb] 2 Reply + Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 2:49 pm I'll stick to my steaks thanks. Nice try Greta Thunberg... [green-thum] 2 [red-thumb] 3 Reply + Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 3:15 pm And where in this article did it mention meat production as part of this problem? [green-thum] 1 [red-thumb] 1 Reply 5. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 12:58 pm Mother Nature strikes back and rightfully so. Mankind is destroying the only known habitable planet. [green-thum] 6 [red-thumb] 4 Reply + Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 4:06 pm there are likely to be millions of earth like planets in other galaxy's [green-thum] [red-thumb] Reply 6. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 12:52 pm If this was a real issue hundreds, if not thousands, of people would have already died. Don't make a habit of eating it or drinking brown sea water and I'm sure you'll be fine. [green-thum] 9 [red-thumb] 7 Reply + Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 2:35 pm Thanks Einstein, It is in the air as well. [green-thum] 1 [red-thumb] 1 Reply o Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 4:01 pm And yet I don't see people dying because of it Einstein. [green-thum] 1 [red-thumb] 1 Reply + James says: 30/05/2023 at 3:56 pm Truly not drinking brown sea water or eating Sargassum may go a long way to make sure that people don't get infected by this Vibrio organism at present. A greater concern is a possibility of mutation in this organism, making it to become a real pathogen for human beings which may lead to another emerging human disease. Hence more research and monitoring of the activity of the organism are worth it. [green-thum] 1 [red-thumb] Reply 7. Anonymous says: 30/05/2023 at 11:08 am Sounds like a post from Blacktip Times. [green-thum] 7 [red-thumb] 2 Reply Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] [ ] Name [ ] Email [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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