​The coastal waters of the Red Sea have enough resources to support bacterial growth, but predation by protistan grazers limits the population, according to new research from KAUST. Since bacteria are vital players in the marine food web, determining the factors that affect their growth and abundance is critical to understanding marine ecosystems and how they will respond to climate change.

Researchers at KAUST’s Red Sea Research Center measured the abundance and growth rates of heterotrophic bacteria in water samples collected from the Red Sea coast over 16 months. They also recorded a range of environmental parameters in order to assess their effect on bacterial growth dynamics.

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Image: Luis Silva (front) and his supervisor, Xosé Anxelu G. Morán, analyze samples to determine their bacterial content.
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