Abstract
The present study was conducted to understand the effects of environmental factors on Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) cell counts using most probable number (MPN)-PCR in the waters of the Ariake Sea and Tachibana Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The authors also surveyed V. vulnificus cell counts in seafood harvested from these two sites. Maximum V. vulnificus cell counts in the seawater were 4.50 ×104 ±17.1 MPN/100ml in July in the Ariake Sea. In contrast, the maximum cell counts were found in August in Tachibana Bay. V. vulnificus cell counts in the seawater were positively correlated with the water temperature (rs＝0.711) and negatively correlated with salinity (rs ＝－0.712). Moreover, the values of R2 of dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen and chlorophyll a were above 0.1. V. vulnificus cell counts in marine products were a maximum 106 MPN/100 g,while isolation rates were 90% in bivalves and 94.1% in fish from the Ariake Sea.
