Degradation of crude oil in a contaminated tidal flat area and the resilience of bacterial community.
Crude oil spills, Hebei Spirit in South Korea, is considered as one of the worst environmental disasters of the region. Our understanding on activation of oil-degrading bacteria and resilience of microbial community in oil contaminated sites are limited due to scarcity of such event. In the present study, tidal flat sediment contaminated by the oil spill were investigated for duration of 13months to identify temporal change in microbial community and functional genes responsible for PAH-degradation. The results showed predominance of previously known oil-degrading genera, such as Cycloclasticus, Alcanivorax, and Thalassolituus, displaying significant increase within first four months of the accident. The disturbance caused by the oil spill altered the microbial community and its functional structures, but they were almost restored to the original state after 13months. Present study demonstrated high detoxification capacity of indigenous bacterial populations in the tidal flat sediments and its resilience of microbial community.
Unit of Antarctic K-route Expedition, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Jaejin
J
Lee
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
Il
I
Han
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
Bo Ram
BR
Kang
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
Seong Heon
SH
Kim
Department of System Biotechnology, Chung-Ang University, Anseong, Republic of Korea.
Woo Jun
WJ
Sul
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: tklee@yonsei.ac.kr.
Tae Kwon
TK
Lee
D004190:Disasters; D020563:Gammaproteobacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Crude oil; Dioxygenase; Microbial community; Resilience; Tidal flat