Time- and compound-dependent microbial community compositions and oil hydrocarbon degrading activities in seawater near the Chinese Zhoushan Archipelago

Abstract

Marine microorganisms play an irreplaceable role in removing spilled oil. Zhoushan archipelago has one of the busiest ports and oil stockpiles in China. However, little is known about which and how fast oil-degrading microorganisms could biodegrade spilled oil here. By combining ¹⁴C-/³H-based radiotracer assays and MiSeq sequencing, we report the successive pattern of microbial oil-degrading activities and community compositions. The biodegradation rates of alkanes and PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) were significantly stimulated by oil addition, and reached their maximum after incubation for 3 and 7 days, respectively. Meanwhile, the abundances of alkB and phnAc genes increased and the bacterial communities continuously shifted. Potential oil-degrading bacteria Alcanivorax, Erythrobacter were the dominant degraders by day 3, whereas the dominant degraders shifted to C1-B045, Alteromonas, Pseudohongiella in the later period. These results provide valuable insights into the cooperative system of the versatile oil-degrading bacteria in successively biodegrading complex oil hydrocarbons in oil spills.

Keywords: Bacterial activity; Hydrocarbon biodegradation; Marine oil spill; Oil-degrading bacteria; Radiotracer assay; Zhoushan archipelago.