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Marine microbiology: Community clean up

Nature Microbiology volume 1, Article number: 16102 (2016) Cite this article

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A combination of metagenomics and stable isotope probing provides new insight into the community-wide degradation of hydrocarbons released during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Marine microorganisms are capable of transforming their environment, for example, by rendering toxic compounds non-toxic, mitigating the propagation of toxic substances up trophic levels. Microbially mediated hydrocarbon degradation processes were essential agents of these transformations during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in 2010, from the deep sea at the site of hydrocarbon release right up to the sea surface. Thus, microbially mediated processes determined, in part, the type and magnitude of the hydrocarbon flux at the sediment/seawater interface, as well as the fate of the hydrocarbons throughout the water column and eventually in surrounding coastal environments.

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Figure 1: DNA-SIP metagenomic experimental strategy for the identification and characterization of hydrocarbon-degrading microorgansims from DWH oil spill deep-plume and surface-slick samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rachel Mackelprang is in the Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge California 91330, USA.,

    Rachel Mackelprang

  2. Olivia U. Mason is at Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4520, USA.,

    Olivia U. Mason

Authors
  1. Rachel Mackelprang
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  2. Olivia U. Mason
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Correspondence to Rachel Mackelprang.

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Mackelprang, R., Mason, O. Marine microbiology: Community clean up. Nat Microbiol 1, 16102 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.102

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