Alex Alexiev edited Introduction.tex  over 8 years ago

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\section{Introduction} \section{Background}  [More SAV info??] Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) has important ecological roles like providing habitat and food to fauna, preventing coastal erosion, and filtering pollution from water (). Recent research in other plant systems has shown how important the plant microbiome is to plant health and function (). However, there is little research on the SAV microbiome. This area of study could elucidate plant health and how the plant interacts with its environment, potentially helping with conservation efforts and overall adding to our knowledge of SAV. To interrogate the dynamics of the SAV microbial community, we did a 16S environmental survey, which involved amplifying and sequencing the 16S SSU rRNA genes in samples of SAV leaf and root tissue.   The Chesapeake Bay is home to a variety of species of SAV. The Potomac River in particular has a distinct salinity gradient that becomes progressively marine as one moves towards the mouth of the river (Fig. ). This salinity gradient could be correlated with changes in the SAV microbiome. The microbial community could also, however, be associated with the location, the temperature, the host species, or any number of environmental attributes. The goal of this study was to characterize the SAV microbiome and determine associated factors from the environment that are connected to microbial community patterns.