Marine bacterioplankton in the coastal region off Aveiro (NW Portugal) develop under the influence of the plume of a mesotrophic estuarine system (Ria de Aveiro) and, more recently, under the influence of the discharges of a marine sewage outfall (S. Jacinto). In an attempt to compare the degree of disturbance introduced by these 2 features to the abundance of sewage bacteria and heterotrophic ...

Oceanic dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an assemblage of reduced carbon compounds, which results from biotic and abiotic processes. The biotic processes consist in either release or uptake of specific molecules by marine organisms. Heterotrophic bacteria have been mostly considered to influence the DOM composition by preferential uptake of certain compounds. However, they also secrete a varie...