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Title: Exploring novel alkane-degradation pathways in uncultured bacteria from the North Atlantic Ocean
Petroleum pollution in the ocean has increased because of rapid population growth and modernization, requiring urgent remediation. Our understanding of the metabolic response of native microbial communities to oil spills is not well understood. Here, we explored the baseline hydrocarbon-degrading communities of a subarctic Atlantic region to uncover the metabolic potential of the bacteria that inhabit the surface and subsurface water. We conducted enrichments with a 13 C-labeled hydrocarbon to capture the fraction of the community actively using the hydrocarbon. We then combined this approach with metagenomics to identify the metabolic potential of this hydrocarbon-degrading community. This revealed previously undescribed uncultured bacteria with unique metabolic mechanisms involved in aerobic hydrocarbon degradation, indicating that temperature may be pivotal in structuring hydrocarbon-degrading baseline communities. Our findings highlight gaps in our understanding of the metabolic complexity of hydrocarbon degradation by native marine microbial communities.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2011002
PAR ID:
10464200
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Editor(s):
Mackelprang, Rachel
Date Published:
Journal Name:
mSystems
ISSN:
2379-5077
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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