Hydrocarbon-Degrading Microbial Communities Are Site Specific, and Their Activity Is Limited by Synergies in Temperature and Nutrient Availability in Surface Ocean Waters

• Published in: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
• Main Authors: Sun, Xiaoxu, Kostka, Joel E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ University of South Florida 2019
• Subjects: Alaska; Arctic Regions; Bacteria; Biodegradation; Environmental; Gulf of Mexico; Hydrocarbons; Microbiota; Nutrients; Seawater; Temperature; Arctic; Beaufort Sea
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cimage_pubs/147; https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00443-19

The objective of this study was to quantify the potential for hydrocarbon biodegradation in surface waters of three sites, representing geographic regions of major oil exploration (Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, northern Gulf of Mexico [GOM], and southern GOM), in a systematic experimental design that incorporated gradients in temperature and the availability of major nutrients. Surface seawater was amended in microcosms with Macondo surrogate oil to simulate an oil slick, and microcosms were incubated, with or without nutrient amendment, at temperatures ranging from 4 to 38