Diesel and Crude Oil Biodegradation by Cold-Adapted Microbial Communities in the Labrador Sea
Volume
87
Publisher
DOI
10.1128/AEM.00800-21
Journal
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Issue
ISSN
0099-2240
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Oil spills in the subarctic marine environment off the coast of Labrador,
Canada, are increasingly likely due to potential oil production and increases in ship traffic in the region. To understand the microbiome response and how nutrient biostimulation promotes biodegradation of oil spills in this cold marine setting, marine sediment
microcosms amended with diesel or crude oil were incubated at in situ temperature
(4°C) for several weeks. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes following these spill simulations
revealed decreased microbial diversity and enrichment of putative hydrocarbonoclastic
bacteria that differed depending on the petroleum product. Metagenomic sequencing
revealed that the genus Paraperlucidibaca harbors previously unrecognized capabilities
for alkane biodegradation, which were also observed in Cycloclasticus. Genomic and
amplicon sequencing together suggest that Oleispira and Thalassolituus degraded alkanes from diesel, while Zhongshania and the novel PGZG01 lineage contributed to crude
oil alkane biodegradation. Greater losses in PAHs from crude oil than from diesel were
consistent with Marinobacter, Pseudomonas_D, and Amphritea genomes exhibiting aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation potential. Biostimulation with nitrogen and phosphorus (4.67 mM NH4Cl and 1.47 mM KH2PO4) was effective at enhancing n-alkane and
PAH degradation following low-concentration (0.1% [vol/vol]) diesel and crude oil
amendments, while at higher concentrations (1% [vol/vol]) only n-alkanes in diesel
were consumed, suggesting toxicity induced by compounds in unrefined crude oil.
Biostimulation allowed for a more rapid shift in the microbial community in response
to petroleum amendments, more than doubling the rates of CO2 increase during the
first few weeks of incubation.
Authors
Murphy, SMC; Bautista, MA; Cramm, MA; Hubert, CRJCollections
- Geography [590]