Microbial gene functions enriched in the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea oil plume

Journal Article · Wed Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · ISME Journal

OSTI ID:1051040

Lu, Z; Deng, Y; Nostrand, J.D. Van; He, Z; Voordeckers, J; Zhou, A; Lee, Y -J; Mason, O U; Dubinsky, E; Chavarria, K; Tom, L; Fortney, J; Lamendella, R; Jansson, J K; D?haeseleer, P; Hazen, T C; Zhou, J

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the deepest and largest offshore spill in U.S. history and its impacts on marine ecosystems are largely unknown. Here, we showed that the microbial community functional composition and structure were dramatically altered in a deep-sea oil plume resulting from the spill. A variety of metabolic genes involved in both aerobic and anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation were highly enriched in the plume compared to outside the plume, indicating a great potential for intrinsic bioremediation or natural attenuation in the deep-sea. Various other microbial functional genes relevant to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and iron cycling, metal resistance, and bacteriophage replication were also enriched in the plume. Together, these results suggest that the indigenous marine microbial communities could play a significant role in biodegradation of oil spills in deep-sea environments.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: Earth Sciences Division
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1051040
• Report Number(s): LBNL-5055E
• Journal Information: ISME Journal, Journal Name: ISME Journal
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BACTERIOPHAGES
BIODEGRADATION
BIOREMEDIATION
CARBON
COMMUNITIES
FUNCTIONALS
GENES
GULF OF MEXICO
HYDROCARBONS
IRON
NATURAL ATTENUATION
NITROGEN
OIL SPILLS
PHOSPHORUS
PLUMES
SULFUR