VIRIOPLANKTON AND BACTERIOPLANKTON DYNAMIC IN AN ITALIAN COASTAL AREA OF THE SOUTHERN ADRIATIC SEA SUBJECTED TO POLLUTION

The discovery that viruses may be the most abundant organisms in marine ecosystems, surpassing the number of bacteria by an order of magnitude, has inspired a resurgence of interest in viruses in the aquatic environment. In the present study we evaluated the virioplankton, total culturable heterotrophic bacteria, luminous bacteria, Escherichia coli and somatic coliphages abundances, over an annual cycle, at two sampling points located in the Southern Adriatic Sea (Italy) differently subjected to a sewage pipe impact.