Reduced TCA cycle rates at high hydrostatic pressure hinder hydrocarbon degradation and obligate oil degraders in natural, deep-sea microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: Petroleum hydrocarbons reach the deep-sea following natural and anthropogenic factors. The process by which they enter deep-sea microbial food webs and impact the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other elements is unclear. Hydrostatic pressure (HP) is a distinctive parameter of the deep sea, although rarely investigated. Whether HP alone affects the assembly and activity of oil-degrading communities remains to be resolved. Here we have demonstrated that hydrocarbon degradation in deep-sea microbial communities is lower at native HP (10 MPa, about 1000 m below sea surface level) than at ambient pressure. In long-term enrichments, increased HP selectively inhibited obligate hydrocarbon-degraders and downregulated the expression of beta-oxidation-related proteins (i.e., the main hydrocarb

SUBMITTER: Scoma A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6461773 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature