Factors Involved in Chitin Utilization by Vibrios

Because cholera remains an infectious disease of public health concern world wide, even with very few cases per year in the United States, the existance of pathogenic vibrios as normal inhabitants in estuarine waters require that we attempt to learn how these organisms maintain themselves in this environment (Colwell et al. 1980). Several investigators have reported that vibrios, although preferring high pH and some salinity, are intimately associated with chitin (Amako et al. 1987; Huq et al. 1984; Guthrie and Cofie, 1987). In those reports the point was made that the presence of organisms such as copepods, as well as larger chitin-bearing organisms, in the water increased the survival time of vibrios which were present.