Distinct Bacterial Communities in Surficial Seafloor Sediments Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Blowout.

ABSTRACT: A major fraction of the petroleum hydrocarbons discharged during the 2010 Macondo oil spill became associated with and sank to the seafloor as marine snow flocs. This sedimentation pulse induced the development of distinct bacterial communities. Between May 2010 and July 2011, full-length 16S rRNA gene clone libraries demonstrated bacterial community succession in oil-polluted sediment samples near the wellhead area. Libraries from early May 2010, before the sedimentation event, served as the baseline control. Freshly deposited oil-derived marine snow was collected on the surface of sediment cores in September 2010, and was characterized by abundantly detected members of the marine Roseobacter cluster within the Alphaproteobacteria. Samples collected in mid-October 2010 closest to the well

SUBMITTER: Yang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5020131 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature