Deep-sea oil plume enriches psychrophilic oil-degrading bacteria

The biological effects and expected fate of the vast amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon blowout are unknown owing to the depth and magnitude of this event. Here, we report that the dispersed hydrocarbon plume stimulated deep-sea indigenous {gamma}-Proteobacteria that are...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2010-09, Vol.330 (6001)
Main Authors: Hazen, T.C., Dubinsky, E.A., DeSantis, T.Z., Andersen, G.L., Piceno, Y.M., Singh, N., Jansson, J.K., Probst, A., Borglin, S.E., Fortney, J.L., Stringfellow, W.T., Bill, M., Conrad, M.S., Tom, L.M., Chavarria, K.L., Alusi, T.R., Lamendella, R., Joyner, D.C., Spier, C., Auer, M., Zemla, M.L., Chakraborty, R., Sonnenthal, E.L., D'haeseleer, P., Holman, H.-Y. N., Osman, S., Lu, Z., Van Nostrand, J.D., Deng, Y., Zhou, J., Mason, O.U.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
54
58
BACTERIA
BIODEGRADATION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOREMEDIATION
BLOWOUTS
DRAWDOWN
GENES
GULF OF MEXICO
HYDROCARBONS
INCUBATION
OXYGEN
PETROLEUM
PLUMES
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The biological effects and expected fate of the vast amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon blowout are unknown owing to the depth and magnitude of this event. Here, we report that the dispersed hydrocarbon plume stimulated deep-sea indigenous {gamma}-Proteobacteria that are closely related to known petroleum degraders. Hydrocarbon-degrading genes coincided with the concentration of various oil contaminants. Changes in hydrocarbon composition with distance from the source and incubation experiments with environmental isolates demonstrated faster-than-expected hydrocarbon biodegradation rates at 5 C. Based on these results, the potential exists for intrinsic bioremediation of the oil plume in the deep-water column without substantial oxygen drawdown.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1195979