Modeling pH and Temperature Effects as Climatic Hazards in V ibrio Vulnificus and Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Planktonic Growth and Biofilm Formation.

Climate-induced stressors, such as changes in temperature, salinity, and pH, contribute to the emergence of infectious diseases. These changes alter geographical constraint, resulting in increased spread, exposure, and infection rates, thus facilitating greater -human interactions. Multiple efforts have been developed to predict exposure and raise awareness of health risks, but most models only use temperature and salinity as prediction factors. This study aimed to better understand the potential effects of temperature and pH on and planktonic and biofilm growth. strains were grown in triplicate at 25°, 30°, and 37°C in 96 well plates containing Modified Seawater Yeast Extract modified with CaCl at pH's ranging from 5 to 9.6. AMiGA software was used to model growth curves using Gaussian process regression. The effects of temperature and pH were evaluated using randomized complete block analysis of variance, and the growth rates of and were modeled using the interpolation fit on the MatLab Curve Fitting Toolbox. Different optimal conditions involving temperature and pH were observed for planktonic and biofilm growth within- and between-species. This study showed that temperature and pH factors significantly affect planktonic growth rates and biofilm formation. Therefore, pH effects must be added to the growth modeling efforts to better predict risk in estuarine and coastal zones that can potentially experience the cooccurrence of and harmful algal bloom outbreak events.