Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic
A notable feature of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the unprecedented formation of marine oil snow (MOS) that was observed in large quantities floating on the sea surface and that subsequently sedimented to the seafloor. Whilst the physical and chemical processes involved in MOS formation remai...
Published in: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2019
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Online Access: | https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/chemical-dispersant-enhances-microbial-exopolymer-eps-production-and-formation-of-marine-oildispersant-snow-in-surface-waters-of-the-subarctic-northeast-atlantic(a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643).html https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/17375/1/Suja_2019_FM_EPS_CC.pdf |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643 2024-09-09T19:59:01+00:00 Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic Suja, Laura Duran Chen, Xindi Summers, Stephen Paterson, David M. Gutierrez, Tony 2019-03-20 application/pdf https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/chemical-dispersant-enhances-microbial-exopolymer-eps-production-and-formation-of-marine-oildispersant-snow-in-surface-waters-of-the-subarctic-northeast-atlantic(a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643).html https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/17375/1/Suja_2019_FM_EPS_CC.pdf eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/chemical-dispersant-enhances-microbial-exopolymer-eps-production-and-formation-of-marine-oildispersant-snow-in-surface-waters-of-the-subarctic-northeast-atlantic(a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Suja , L D , Chen , X , Summers , S , Paterson , D M & Gutierrez , T 2019 , ' Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic ' , Frontiers in Microbiology , vol. 10 , 553 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 Marine oil snow Marine dispersant snow Faroe-Shetland Channel Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria EPS article 2019 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 2024-06-19T23:47:18Z A notable feature of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the unprecedented formation of marine oil snow (MOS) that was observed in large quantities floating on the sea surface and that subsequently sedimented to the seafloor. Whilst the physical and chemical processes involved in MOS formation remain unclear, some studies have shown that extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play a role in this process. Here, we report that during exposure of subarctic northeast Atlantic seawater to a chemical dispersant, whether in the presence/absence of crude oil, the dispersant stimulates the production of significant quantities of EPS that we posit serves as a key building block in the formation of MOS. This response is likely conferred via de-novo synthesis of EPS by natural communities of bacteria. We also describe the formation of marine dispersant snow (MDS) as a product of adding chemical dispersants to seawater. Differential staining confirmed that MDS, like MOS, is composed of glycoprotein, though MDS is more protein rich. Using barcoded-amplicon Illumina MiSeq sequencing, we analyzed, for the first time, the bacterial communities associated with MDS and report that their diversity is not significantly dissimilar to those associated with MOS aggregates. Our findings emphasize the need to conduct further work on the effects of dispersants when applied to oil spills at sea, particularly at different sites, and to determine how the product of this (i.e. MOS and MDS) affects the biodegradation of the oil. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic Subarctic University of St Andrews: Research Portal Frontiers in Microbiology 10 |
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University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Marine oil snow Marine dispersant snow Faroe-Shetland Channel Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria EPS |
spellingShingle |
Marine oil snow Marine dispersant snow Faroe-Shetland Channel Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria EPS Suja, Laura Duran Chen, Xindi Summers, Stephen Paterson, David M. Gutierrez, Tony Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Marine oil snow Marine dispersant snow Faroe-Shetland Channel Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria EPS |
description |
A notable feature of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the unprecedented formation of marine oil snow (MOS) that was observed in large quantities floating on the sea surface and that subsequently sedimented to the seafloor. Whilst the physical and chemical processes involved in MOS formation remain unclear, some studies have shown that extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play a role in this process. Here, we report that during exposure of subarctic northeast Atlantic seawater to a chemical dispersant, whether in the presence/absence of crude oil, the dispersant stimulates the production of significant quantities of EPS that we posit serves as a key building block in the formation of MOS. This response is likely conferred via de-novo synthesis of EPS by natural communities of bacteria. We also describe the formation of marine dispersant snow (MDS) as a product of adding chemical dispersants to seawater. Differential staining confirmed that MDS, like MOS, is composed of glycoprotein, though MDS is more protein rich. Using barcoded-amplicon Illumina MiSeq sequencing, we analyzed, for the first time, the bacterial communities associated with MDS and report that their diversity is not significantly dissimilar to those associated with MOS aggregates. Our findings emphasize the need to conduct further work on the effects of dispersants when applied to oil spills at sea, particularly at different sites, and to determine how the product of this (i.e. MOS and MDS) affects the biodegradation of the oil. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Suja, Laura Duran Chen, Xindi Summers, Stephen Paterson, David M. Gutierrez, Tony |
author_facet |
Suja, Laura Duran Chen, Xindi Summers, Stephen Paterson, David M. Gutierrez, Tony |
author_sort |
Suja, Laura Duran |
title |
Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
title_short |
Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
title_full |
Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic |
title_sort |
chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (eps) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast atlantic |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/chemical-dispersant-enhances-microbial-exopolymer-eps-production-and-formation-of-marine-oildispersant-snow-in-surface-waters-of-the-subarctic-northeast-atlantic(a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643).html https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/17375/1/Suja_2019_FM_EPS_CC.pdf |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic Subarctic |
op_source |
Suja , L D , Chen , X , Summers , S , Paterson , D M & Gutierrez , T 2019 , ' Chemical dispersant enhances microbial exopolymer (EPS) production and formation of marine oil/dispersant snow in surface waters of the subarctic northeast Atlantic ' , Frontiers in Microbiology , vol. 10 , 553 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/chemical-dispersant-enhances-microbial-exopolymer-eps-production-and-formation-of-marine-oildispersant-snow-in-surface-waters-of-the-subarctic-northeast-atlantic(a67f04b8-d400-418b-9c3e-a026ed7a9643).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00553 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
10 |
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1809930165583609856 |