Abstract
Oil reserves in deep-sea sediments are currently subject to intense exploration, with associated risks of oil spills. Previous research suggests that microbial communities from deep-sea sediment (>1000m) can degrade hydrocarbons (HCs), but have a lower degradation ability than shallow (<200m) communities, probably due to in situ temperature. This study aimed to assess the effect of marine origin on microbial HC degradation potential while separating the influence of temperature, and to characterise associated HC-degrading bacterial communities. Microbial communities from 135 and 1000 m deep sediments were selectively enriched on crude oil at in situ temperatures and both consortia were subsequently incubated for 42 days at 20°C with two HC mixtures: diesel fuel or model oil. Significant HC biodegradation occurred rapidly in the presence of both consortia, especially of low molecular weight HCs and was concomitant with microbial community changes. Further, oil degradation was higher with the shallow consortium than with the deep one. Dominant HC-degrading bacteria differed based on both spatial origin of the consortia and supplemented HC types. This study provides evidence for influence of sediment spatial origin and HC composition on the selection and activity of marine HC-degrading bacterial communities and is relevant for future bioremediationdevelopments.
Highlights
Continued demand for petroleum is forcing oil exploration into deeper waters such as the United Kingdom’s continental slope west of the Shetland Islands (Austin, Cannon and Ellis 2014)
The primary aims of this study were, (1) to assess the influence of site-specific community composition on HC degradation rates, (2) to determine the differential responses of consortia when exposed to two different mixtures of HCs over time and (3) to monitor temporal changes in bacterial community structure induced by preferential HC degradation
Microbial consortia enriched from sediments at two stations within the Faroe–Shetland Channel (FSC) were incubated with two HC sources as the sole carbon source
Summary
Continued demand for petroleum is forcing oil exploration into deeper waters such as the United Kingdom’s continental slope west of the Shetland Islands (Austin, Cannon and Ellis 2014). Any potential oil release would be difficult to contain, monitor and remediate considering the challenging environment deep-sea areas pose (Cordes et al 2016). Within certain regions of the marine environment, frequent oil influx from naturally occurring seeps has allowed local microbial communities to adapt to and exploit the carbonrich substrate as an energy source (LaMontagne et al 2004). This results in a ‘primed’ ecosystem that has an intrinsic capacity to respond to and degrade HCs (Hazen et al 2010). In areas lacking natural seeps, in the event of an oil spill, microbial communities may not be as responsive and further investigation is required to determine the ability of such sites to naturally remediate oil pollution
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