Detection of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria on deepwater corals of the northeast Atlantic using CARD-FISH.

Recently, studies have begun to identify oil-degrading bacteria and host-taxon specific bacterial assemblages associated with the coral holobiont, including deep-sea cold-water corals, which are thought to provide metabolic functions and additional carbon sources to their coral hosts. Here, we describe the identification of Marinobacter on the soft tissue of Lophelia pertusa coral polyps by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH). L.

Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria Found Tightly Associated with the 50-70 μm Cell-Size Population of Eukaryotic Phytoplankton in Surface Waters of a Northeast Atlantic Region.

The surface of marine eukaryotic phytoplankton can harbour communities of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria; however, this algal-bacterial association has, hitherto, been only examined with non-axenic laboratory cultures of micro-algae. In this study, we isolated an operationally-defined community of phytoplankton, of cell size 50-70 μm, from a natural community in sea surface waters of a subarctic region in the northeast Atlantic. Using MiSeq 16S rRNA sequencing, we identified several recognized (, , , , ) and putative hydrocarbon degraders (, ) tightly associated with the phytoplankton population.

Visualisation of the obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria Polycyclovorans algicola and Algiphilus aromaticivorans in co-cultures with micro-algae by CARD-FISH.

Some studies have described the isolation and 16S rRNA gene sequence-based identification of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria living associated with marine eukaryotic phytoplankton, and thus far the direct visual observation of these bacteria on micro-algal cell surfaces ('phycosphere') has not yet been reported. Here, we developed two new 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes, PCY223 and ALGAR209, to respectively detect and enumerate the obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria Polycyclovorans algicola and Algiphilus aromaticivorans by Catalyzed Reporter Deposition Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH). To enhance the hybridization specificity with the ALGAR209 probe, a competitor probe was developed.

Enhanced crude oil biodegradative potential of natural phytoplankton-associated hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria.

Phytoplankton have been shown to harbour a diversity of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB), yet it is not understood how these phytoplankton-associated HCB would respond in the event of an oil spill at sea. Here, we assess the diversity and dynamics of the bacterial community associated with a natural population of marine phytoplankton under oil spill-simulated conditions, and compare it to that of the free-living (non phytoplankton-associated) bacterial community. While the crude oil severely impacted the phytoplankton population and was likely conducive to marine oil snow formation, analysis of the MiSeq-derived 16S rRNA data revealed dramatic and differential shifts in the oil-amended communities that included blooms of recognized HCB (e.

Genome Sequence of Polycyclovorans algicola Strain TG408, an Obligate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacterium Associated with Marine Eukaryotic Phytoplankton.

Polycyclovorans algicola strain TG408 is a recently discovered bacterium associated with marine eukaryotic phytoplankton and exhibits the ability to utilize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) almost exclusively as sole sources of carbon and energy. Here, we present the genome sequence of this strain, which is 3,653,213 bp, with 3,477 genes and an average G+C content of 63.8%.