The Interactive Effects of Crude Oil and Corexit 9500 on Their Biodegradation in Arctic Seawater

• Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Main Authors: Gofstein, Taylor R., Perkins, Matthew, Field, Jennifer, Leigh, Mary Beth
• Other Authors: Parales, Rebecca E., Coastal Marine Institute, Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute, UAF Center for Global Change Student Research Grant Competition, HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences, DOD | National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Microbiology 2020
• Subjects: Ecology; Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology; Food Science; Biotechnology; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.01194-20; https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.01194-20

Chemical dispersants such as Corexit 9500 are commonly used in oil spill response and are currently under consideration for use in the Arctic, where their fate and effects have not been well studied. This research was performed to determine the interactive effects of the copresence of crude oil and Corexit 9500 on the degradation of components from each mixture and the associated microbial community structure over time in Arctic seawater. These findings will help yield a better understanding of the biodegradability of dispersant components applied to an oil spill, the temporal microbial community response to dispersed oil, and the fundamental microbial ecology of organic contaminant biodegradation processes in the Arctic marine environment.