Diverse, rare microbial taxa responded to the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea hydrocarbon plume.

ABSTRACT: The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil well blowout generated an enormous plume of dispersed hydrocarbons that substantially altered the Gulf of Mexico's deep-sea microbial community. A significant enrichment of distinct microbial populations was observed, yet, little is known about the abundance and richness of specific microbial ecotypes involved in gas, oil and dispersant biodegradation in the wake of oil spills. Here, we document a previously unrecognized diversity of closely related taxa affiliating with Cycloclasticus, Colwellia and Oceanospirillaceae and describe their spatio-temporal distribution in the Gulf's deepwater, in close proximity to the discharge site and at increasing distance from it, before, during and after the discharge. A highly sensitive, computational method (oligotyping

SUBMITTER: Kleindienst S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4737931 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature