title: Evidence for in situ crude oil biodegradation after the Prestige oil spill.
abstract: In November 2002, the oil tanker Prestige sank off the Spanish coast after releasing approximately 17,000 tones of heavy fuel, coating several hundred kilometers of coastline in oil sludge. In December 2002 and February 2003, samples were collected from the shore of the Galician coast to analyse the indigenous population ability to carry out crude oil degradation in situ. Carbon isotopic ratio of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater samples was used as a rapid method to directly assess activity of microbes on the oil components. 12CO2/13CO2 ratio in samples from certain locations along the coast revealed degradation of a very delta13C-negative source such as the Prestige crude oil (-30.6 per thousand). Putative biodegradation processes taking place at areas with high income of fresh seawater could not be detected with this technique. Laboratory-scale biostimulation processes carried out in samples with the highest oil biodegradation activity showed that N/P deficiency in seawater is a limiting factor for crude oil degradation. The most probable number (MPN) of crude oil component degraders was estimated for several aromatic compounds (naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene) and for undecane. Our results clearly show that bacteria present in the contaminated water are readily able to transform components of the crude oil into inorganic carbon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, CSIC, Apdo. 419, E-18080 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Medina-Bellver
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marín
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Sánchez
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: Juan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marqués
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical