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The occurrence and the distribution of potentially human pathogenic bacteria such as Aeromonas, Pseudomonas aeruoginosa, Staphylococcus and Vibrio-like organisms in the sand and the adjacent seawater of the recreational coastal beach were studied. The highest mean number among these four studied groups of bacteria was represented by Aeromonas-like organisms and the lowest one by Staphylococcus-like organisms. Dry sand was inhabited by the highest number of all studied potentially pathogenic bacteria. Within a year, the number of the studied bacteria inhabiting the sand and the seawater showed considerable monthly changes. There were differences in the abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria between the surface and the subsurface sand layers with a clear decrease in their number toward the deeper layers of the sand.

Antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus-like organisms (STLO) isolated from a recreational sea beach located on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea was studied. The results of the present study showed that STLO inhabiting sand and seawater of the beach strongly differed in the resistance level to tested antibiotics. These microorganisms were most resistant to ampicillin, penicillin, oxytetracycline and susceptible to gentamicin, neomycin and streptomycin. Moreover, the level of antibiotic resistance among bacteria isolated from different parts of the beach also differed. Bacteria inhabiting the seawater, shoreline and the middle part of the beach were more antibioticresistant than bacteria isolated from the dune. The majority of bacteria inhabiting the seawater and sand were resistant to 3-8 antibiotics out of 12 tested in this study. Generally, there was no difference in antibiotic resistance between Staphylococcus-like

The abundance of actinomycetes, filamentous fungi and yeasts in the marine epipsammon habitat and their spatial distribution were studied with conventional plating techniques in two marine beaches (Ustka and Czołpino, southern Baltic Sea) which are characterized by different anthropic pressure levels. Actinomycetes constituted the predominant group of studied microorganisms, while the least numerous were yeasts in the sand of both studied beaches. On both of the beaches researched in this study, the amounts of accumulated actinomycetales, fungi and yeasts were similar. When analyzing the distribution of the microflora along the horizontal beach profiles we found significant differences. In the sand collected along the profile perpendicular to the shoreline in Ustka and Czołpino beaches, the highest numbers of actinomycetes, filamentous fungi and yeasts were noted in the samples from the dune and the lowest in those from the subtidal zone and waterline. Generally, higher numbers of studied microorganisms were observed in the surface * Corresponding author e-mail: pperlinski@apsl.edu.pl than in the subsurface sand layer. The occurrence of actinomycetes, filamentous fungi and yeasts showed considerable seasonal variation.

The potential capability to decompose macromolecular compounds was confirmed in heterotrophic bacteria isolated from two sandy beaches located on the southern Baltic coast. Proteolytic bacteria were the most numerous group, whereas lipolytic organisms were rare among bacteria inhabiting the studied beaches. All studied physiological groups of bacteria were considerably more numerous in the sand of the beach subject to stronger anthropopressure. The differences in bacteriological parameters across the horizontal profile of the beaches were noted. In both studied beaches a higher number of bacteria able to decompose macromolecular compounds were recorded in the surface as compared to the subsurface sand layer.