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Zhou Y, Wang Y, Yang L, Kong Q, Zhang H. Microbial degradation mechanisms of surface petroleum contaminated seawater in a typical oil trading port. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 324:121420. [PMID: 36906058 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Petroleum hydrocarbons are significant new persistent organic pollutants for marine oil spill risk areas. Oil trading ports, in turn, have become major bearers of the risk of offshore oil pollution. However, studies on the molecular mechanisms of microbial degradation of petroleum pollutants by natural seawater are limited. Here, an in situ microcosm study was conducted. Combined with metagenomics, differences in metabolic pathways and in the gene abundances of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) are revealed under different conditions. About 88% degradation of TPH was shown after 3 weeks of treatment. The positive responders to TPH were concentrated in the genera Cycloclasticus, Marivita and Sulfitobacter of the orders Rhodobacterales and Thiotrichales. The genera Marivita, Roseobacter, Lentibacter and Glaciecola were key degradation species when mixing dispersants with oil, and all of the above are from the Proteobacteria phylum. The analysis showed that the biodegradability of aromatic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and dioxin were enhanced after the oil spill, and genes with higher abundances of bphAa, bsdC, nahB, doxE and mhpD were found, but the photosynthesis-related mechanism was inhibited. The dispersant treatment effectively stimulated the microbial degradation of TPH and then accelerated the succession of microbial communities. Meanwhile, functions such as bacterial chemotaxis and carbon metabolism (cheA, fadeJ and fadE) were better developed, but the degradation of persistent organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was weakened. Our study provides insights into the metabolic pathways and specific functional genes for oil degradation by marine microorganisms and will help improve the application and practice of bioremediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumiao Zhou
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Ying Wang
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China
| | - Likun Yang
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China
| | - Qiang Kong
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250000, China
| | - Huanxin Zhang
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250000, China.
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2
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Gofstein TR, Leigh MB. Metatranscriptomic shifts suggest shared biodegradation pathways for Corexit 9500 components and crude oil in Arctic seawater. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS 2023; 15:51-59. [PMID: 36177554 PMCID: PMC10103760 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.13127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
While the genes and pathways responsible for petroleum biodegradation in marine environments have received substantial attention, considerably less is known about those active in the biodegradation of the commonly applied chemical dispersant Corexit 9500. Yet, their fate in the Arctic marine environment is an increasingly important unknown. To elucidate the genes and pathways active in the biodegradation of oil and dispersants, we performed metatranscriptomic sequencing on microbial communities in Arctic seawater exposed to oil, Corexit, or both for 0, 5, and 30 days in a mesocosm incubation experiment. While oil and Corexit stimulated significantly different metatranscriptomic profiles overall, both enriched a suite of fatty acid degradation gene transcripts. Based on the gene transcripts observed and the chemical structures of Corexit 9500 surfactant components, we propose a hypothetical pathway for Corexit surfactant biodegradation in which surfactant ester groups are transformed into fatty acids that are then funnelled into the β-oxidation fatty acid degradation pathway. Several microbial taxa within Oceanospirillales, Pseudomonadales, and Alteromonadales were associated with either oil-only or Corexit-only exposure, potentially implicating them in the degradation of these mixtures. Metabolic gene transcripts were associated with diverse gammaproteobacterial lineages, with many genera exhibiting functional redundancy. These findings offer new insight into the potential genes, pathways, and microbial consortia involved in the biodegradation of Corexit 9500 in the Arctic marine environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor R. Gofstein
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaskaUSA
- Department of Chemistry & BiochemistryUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaskaUSA
| | - Mary Beth Leigh
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaskaUSA
- Department of Biology and WildlifeUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaskaUSA
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3
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Techtmann SM, Santo Domingo J, Conmy R, Barron M. Impacts of dispersants on microbial communities and ecological systems. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:1095-1106. [PMID: 36648524 PMCID: PMC10111227 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-022-12332-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Accidental oil spills can result in catastrophic ecological insults and therefore require rapid intervention to mitigate the potential impacts to aquatic ecosystems. One of the largest oil spills, known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, occurred in the Spring of 2010 near the coast of Louisiana (USA) due to an explosion during oil drilling activities. Millions of gallons of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico, impacting thousands of ocean miles and coastal areas linked to the gulf. Among the actions taken during the remediation efforts was the unprecedented large use of Corexit dispersants, including at the subsurface to prevent oil from reaching the surface. While there is evidence that dispersants can accelerate the biodegradation of oil, reports on their potential toxicity to aquatic biota and to microbial functions have also been documented. In this review, we will examine the most recent literature on the impact of dispersants on microbial communities implicated in oil degradation and overall ecological networks. The primary focus will be on studies using Corexit but other dispersants will be discussed if data are available. We will share the literature gaps identified and discuss future work that is needed to reconcile some of the discrepancies found on the effectiveness of dispersants on oil degradation and their potential toxicity. KEY POINTS: • Chemical dispersants have been applied as a chemical response measure for oil spills. • The effects of chemical dispersants on microbial communities have been the subject of substantial research. • This work seeks to review recent work on the impact of chemical dispersants on oil biodegradation, microbial communities, and ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen M Techtmann
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
| | - Jorge Santo Domingo
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
| | - Robyn Conmy
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Mace Barron
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Breeze, FL, USA
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Zhu Z, Merlin F, Yang M, Lee K, Chen B, Liu B, Cao Y, Song X, Ye X, Li QK, Greer CW, Boufadel MC, Isaacman L, Zhang B. Recent advances in chemical and biological degradation of spilled oil: A review of dispersants application in the marine environment. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 436:129260. [PMID: 35739779 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Growing concerns over the risk of accidental releases of oil into the marine environment have emphasized our need to improve both oil spill preparedness and response strategies. Among the available spill response options, dispersants offer the advantages of breaking oil slicks into small oil droplets and promoting their dilution, dissolution, and biodegradation within the water column. Thus dispersants can reduce the probability of oil slicks at sea from reaching coastal regions and reduce their direct impact on mammals, sea birds and shoreline ecosystems. To facilitate marine oil spill response operations, especially addressing spill incidents in remote/Arctic offshore regions, an in-depth understanding of the transportation, fate and effects of naturally/chemically dispersed oil is of great importance. This review provides a synthesis of recent research results studies related to the application of dispersants at the surface and in the deep sea, the fate and transportation of naturally and chemically dispersed oil, and dispersant application in the Arctic and ice-covered waters. Future perspectives have been provided to identify the research gaps and help industries and spill response organizations develop science-based guidelines and protocols for the application of dispersants application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiwen Zhu
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | | | - Min Yang
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Kenneth Lee
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ecosystem Science, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6, Canada
| | - Bing Chen
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Bo Liu
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Yiqi Cao
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Xing Song
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Xudong Ye
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada
| | - Qingqi K Li
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Charles W Greer
- National Research Council Canada, Energy, Mining and Environment Research Centre, Montreal, QC H4P 2R2, Canada
| | - Michel C Boufadel
- Center for Natural Resources, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
| | - Lisa Isaacman
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ecosystem Science, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6, Canada
| | - Baiyu Zhang
- Northern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, NL A1B 3×5, Canada.
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Góngora E, Chen YJ, Ellis M, Okshevsky M, Whyte L. Hydrocarbon bioremediation on Arctic shorelines: Historic perspective and roadway to the future. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 305:119247. [PMID: 35390417 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Climate change has become one of the greatest concerns of the past few decades. In particular, global warming is a growing threat to the Canadian high Arctic and other polar regions. By the middle of this century, an increase in the annual mean temperature of 1.8 °C-2.7 °C for the Canadian North is predicted. Rising temperatures lead to a significant decrease of the sea ice area covered in the Northwest Passage. As a consequence, a surge of maritime activity in that region increases the risk of hydrocarbon pollution due to accidental fuel spills. In this review, we focus on bioremediation approaches on Arctic shorelines. We summarize historical experimental spill studies conducted at Svalbard, Baffin Island, and the Kerguelen Archipelago, and review contemporary studies that used modern omics techniques in various environments. We discuss how omics approaches can facilitate our understanding of Arctic shoreline bioremediation and identify promising research areas that should be further explored. We conclude that specific environmental conditions strongly alter bioremediation outcomes in Arctic environments and future studies must therefore focus on correlating these diverse parameters with the efficacy of hydrocarbon biodegradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Góngora
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada.
| | - Ya-Jou Chen
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada
| | - Madison Ellis
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada
| | - Mira Okshevsky
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada
| | - Lyle Whyte
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada
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Understanding the Implications of Predicted Function for Assessment of Rapid Bioremediation in a Farmland-Oilfield Mixed Area. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14042248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Farmland-oilfield mixed areas are fragile ecosystems that require dynamic remediation to counteract the undesirable impact of energy development. Practicable assessment methods are pivotal to a fast and accurate evaluation of the in situ bioremediation process. Petroleum pollutants impose component-dependent effects on autochthonous microbiota before and after remediation. Here, the predicted functional response of soil microbiomes to petroleum pollutants was analyzed in a historically polluted farmland-oilfield mixed area from the perspective of developing a set of feasible biomarkers for immediate post-bioremediation evaluation. An array of microbial, genetic, systematic, and phenotypic biomarkers was proposed. Our results showed that the biomarkers could proxy the stage of the bioremediation multidimensionally. We argue that functional diversity should be considered together with microbial community dynamic to evaluate the restoration status of the microbial communities in petroleum-contaminated farmland-oilfield mixed environments.
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Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Responses of Chemical Dispersant Application during a Marine Dilbit Spill. Appl Environ Microbiol 2022; 88:e0215121. [PMID: 35020455 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02151-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The global increase in marine transportation of dilbit (diluted bitumen) can increase the risk of spills, and the application of chemical dispersants remains a common response practice in spill events. To reliably evaluate dispersant effects on dilbit biodegradation over time, we set large-scale (1500 mL) microcosms without nutrients addition using low dilbit concentration (30 ppm). Shotgun metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were deployed to investigate microbial community responses to naturally and chemically dispersed dilbit. We found that the large-scale microcosms could produce more reproducible community trajectories than small-scale (250 mL) ones based on the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. In the early-stage large-scale microcosms, multiple genera were involved into the biodegradation of dilbit, while dispersant addition enriched primarily Alteromonas and competed for the utilization of dilbit, causing depressed degradation of aromatics. The metatranscriptomic based Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAG) further elucidated early-stage microbial antioxidation mechanism, which showed dispersant addition triggered the increased expression of the antioxidation process genes of Alteromonas species. Differently, in the late stage, the microbial communities showed high diversity and richness and similar compositions and metabolic functions regardless of dispersant addition, indicating the biotransformation of remaining compounds can occur within the post-oil communities. These findings can guide future microcosm studies and the application of chemical dispersants for responding to a marine dilbit spill. Importance In this study, we employed microcosms to study the effects of marine dilbit spill and dispersant application on microbial community dynamics over time. We evaluated the impacts of microcosm scale and found that increasing the scale is beneficial for reducing community stochasticity, especially in the late stage of biodegradation. We observed that dispersant application suppressed aromatics biodegradation in the early stage (6 days) whereas exerting insignificant effects in the late stage (50 days), from both substances removal and metagenomic/metatranscriptomic perspectives. We further found that Alteromonas species are vital for the early-stage chemically dispersed oil biodegradation, and clarified their degradation and antioxidation mechanisms. The findings would help to better understand microcosm studies and microbial roles for biodegrading dilbit and chemically dispersed dilbit, and suggest that dispersant evaluation in large-scale systems and even through field trails would be more realistic after marine oil spill response.
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