%AUrakawa, Hidetoshi [Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers FL, 33965 USA]%ARajan, Suja [Department of Biological Sciences University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL, 35487 USA]%AFeeney, Megan [Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers FL, 33965 USA]%ASobecky, Patricia [Department of Biological Sciences University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL, 35487 USA]%AMortazavi, Behzad [Department of Biological Sciences University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL, 35487 USA, Dauphin Island Sea Lab Dauphin Island AL, 36528 USA]%BJournal Name: Environmental Microbiology; Journal Volume: 21; Journal Issue: 1; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-14 08:27:30 %D2018%IWiley-Blackwell %JJournal Name: Environmental Microbiology; Journal Volume: 21; Journal Issue: 1; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-14 08:27:30 %K %MOSTI ID: 10076881 %PMedium: X %TEcological response of nitrification to oil spills and its impact on the nitrogen cycle %XSummary

Marine oil spills are catastrophic events that cause massive damage to ecosystems at all trophic levels. While most of the research has focused on carbon‐degrading microorganisms, the potential impacts of hydrocarbons on microbes responsible for nitrification have received far less attention. Nitrifiers are sensitive to hydrocarbon toxicity: ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria and archaea being 100 and 1000 times more sensitive than typical heterotrophs respectively. Field studies have demonstrated the response of nitrifiers to hydrocarbons is highly variable and the loss of nitrification activity in coastal ecosystems can be restored within 1–2 years, which is much shorter than the typical recovery time of whole ecosystems (e.g., up to 20 years). Since the denitrification process is mainly driven by heterotrophs, which are more resistant to hydrocarbon toxicity than nitrifiers, the inhibition of nitrification may slow down the nitrogen turnover and increase ammonia availability, which supports the growth of oil‐degrading heterotrophs and possibly various phototrophs. A better understanding of the ecological response of nitrification is paramount in predicting impacts of oil spills on the nitrogen cycle under oil spill conditions, and in improving current bioremediation practices.

%0Journal Article