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. 2019 Oct 11;7(10):441.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms7100441.

Changes in the Bacterioplankton Community Structure from Southern Gulf of Mexico During a Simulated Crude Oil Spill at Mesocosm Scale

Sonia S Valencia-Agami  1 , Daniel Cerqueda-García  2 , Sébastien Putzeys  3 , María Magdalena Uribe-Flores  4 , Norberto Ulises García-Cruz  5 , Daniel Pech  6 , Jorge Herrera-Silveira  7 , M Leopoldina Aguirre-Macedo  8 , José Q García-Maldonado  9
Affiliations

Changes in the Bacterioplankton Community Structure from Southern Gulf of Mexico During a Simulated Crude Oil Spill at Mesocosm Scale

Sonia S Valencia-Agami et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

The southern Gulf of Mexico (sGoM) is highly susceptible to receiving environmental impacts due to the recent increase in oil-related activities. In this study, we assessed the changes in the bacterioplankton community structure caused by a simulated oil spill at mesocosms scale. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis indicated that the initial bacterial community was mainly represented by Gamma-proteobacteria, Alpha-proteobacteria, Flavobacteriia, and Cyanobacteria. The hydrocarbon degradation activity, measured as the number of culturable hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (CHB) and by the copy number of the alkB gene, was relatively low at the beginning of the experiment. However, after four days, the hydrocarbonoclastic activity reached its maximum values and was accompanied by increases in the relative abundance of the well-known hydrocarbonoclastic Alteromonas. At the end of the experiment, the diversity was restored to similar values as those observed in the initial time, although the community structure and composition were clearly different, where Marivita, Pseudohongiella, and Oleibacter were detected to have differential abundances on days eight-14. These changes were related with total nitrogen (p value = 0.030 and r2 = 0.22) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (p value = 0.048 and r2 = 0.25), according to PERMANOVA. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the potential response of the bacterioplankton from sGoM to crude oil spills.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; bacterioplankton; light crude oil; mesocosm experiment; southern Gulf of Mexico.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Mesocosm design; (a) electric thruster, (b) plastic siphon for sampling, (c) remote control of salinity and temperature sensors, (d) water bath as cooler system, and (e) plastic coating.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Abundances of culturable hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria, concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and copy number of alkB gene during an oil spill simulation at mesocosm scale.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PCoA (weighted UniFrac) of bacterioplankton community during the mesocosm experiment according to amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) composition. Numbers indicate the sampling day. R = reference sample acclimatized to the mesocosm before crude oil addition.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relative abundances of the bacterioplankton community detected during the mesocosm experiment. (a) Classes (> 1%). (b) Top twenty genera.
Figure 4
Figure 4
ASVs with differentiated relative abundances at genus level during the mesocosms experiment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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