Microbial Response to the MC-252 Oil and Corexit 9500 in the Gulf of Mexico

Chakraborty, Romy; Borglin, Sharon E.; Dubinsky, Eric A.; Andersen, Gary L.; Hazen, Terry C.

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00357

Microbial Response to the MC-252 Oil and Corexit 9500 in the Gulf of Mexico

Journal Article · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2011 · Frontiers in Microbiology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00357· OSTI ID:1628072

Chakraborty, Romy ^[1]; Borglin, Sharon E. ^[2]; Dubinsky, Eric A. ^[2]; Andersen, Gary L. ^[2]; Hazen, Terry C. ^[3]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth Sciences Division. Dept. of Ecology; DOE/OSTI
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth Sciences Division. Dept. of Ecology
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Microbiology

The Deepwater Horizon spill released over 4.1 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In an effort to mitigate large oil slicks, the dispersant Corexit 9500 was sprayed onto surface slicks and injected directly at the wellhead at water depth of 1,500 m. Several research groups were involved in investigating the fate of the MC-252 oil using newly advanced molecular tools to elucidate microbial interactions with oil, gases, and dispersant. Microbial community analysis by different research groups revealed that hydrocarbon degrading bacteria belonging to Oceanospirillales, Colwellia, Cycloclasticus, Rhodobacterales, Pseudoalteromonas, and methylotrophs were found enriched in the contaminated water column. Presented here is a comprehensive overview of the ecogenomics of microbial degradation of MC-252 oil and gases in the water column and shorelines. We also present some insight into the fate of the dispersant Corexit 9500 that was added to aid in oil dispersion process. Our results show the dispersant was not toxic to the indigenous microbes at concentrations added, and different bacterial species isolated in the aftermath of the spill were able to degrade the various components of Corexit 9500 that included hydrocarbons, glycols, and dioctyl sulfosuccinate

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1628072

Journal Information:: Frontiers in Microbiology, Journal Name: Frontiers in Microbiology Vol. 3; ISSN 1664-302X

Publisher:: Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Corexit 9500
Gulf of Mexico
MC-252
Microbiology
biodegradation
dispersant
hydrocarbon
oil

Microbial Response to the MC-252 Oil and Corexit 9500 in the Gulf of Mexico

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Cited By (26)

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