Assessment of the bacterial community structure in shallow and deep sediments of the Perdido Fold Belt region in the Gulf of Mexico.

ABSTRACT: The Mexican region of the Perdido Fold Belt (PFB), in northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GoM), is a geological province with important oil reservoirs that will be subjected to forthcoming oil exploration and extraction activities. To date, little is known about the native microbial communities of this region, and how these change relative to water depth. In this study we assessed the bacterial community structure of surficial sediments by high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene at 11 sites in the PFB, along a water column depth gradient from 20 to 3,700 m, including five shallow (20-600 m) and six deep (2,800-3,700 m) samples. The results indicated that OTUs richness and diversity were higher for shallow sites (OTUs = 2,888.2 ± 567.88; H' = 9.6 ± 0.85) than for deep sites (OTUs =

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Soto Jimenez MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6139248 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature