Possible influence of bacterial quorum sensing on the hydrolysis of sinking particulate organic carbon in marine environments

Quorum sensing control of phosphorus acquisition in Trichodesmium consortia.

Composition and fate of gas and oil released to the water column during the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Rapid microbial respiration of Deepwater Horizon oil in surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico

Microbial sources of intact polar diacylglycerolipids in the western North Atlantic Ocean

Phosphorus supply drives rapid turnover of membrane phospholipids in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonanna.

Bacterial and eukaryotic intact polar lipids in the eastern subtropical South Pacific: water-column distribution, planktonic sources, and fatty acid composition.

Abundance and diversity of heterotrophic bacterial cells assimilating 33P-phosphate in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean

Tracking hydrocarbon plume transport and biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon

Viral glycosphingolipids induce lytic infection and cell death in marine phytoplankton

Kinetic constraints on acylated homoserine lactone-based quorum sensing in marine environments

Phytoplankton in the ocean substitute lipids in response to phosphorus scarcity

An interlaboratory study of TEX86 and BIT analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Assessing nutrient limitation of Prochlorococcus in the North Pacific subtropical gyre by using an RNA capture method

Phospholipid synthesis rates in the eastern subtropical South Pacific Ocean

Barium in twilight zone suspended matter as a proxy for particulate organic carbon mineralization: Results for the North Pacific

Primary, new and export production in the NW Pacific Subarctic Gyre during the VERTIGO K2 experiments

Microbial vs. zooplankton control of sinking particle flux in the ocean's twilight zone

Phosphate availability: ultimate control of new nitrogen input by nitrogen fixation in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Growth and P-specific uptake rates of bacterial and phytoplanktonic communities in the Southeast Pacific (BISOSOPE cruise)

Microbes and the marine phosphorus cycle.

Revisiting carbon flux through the ocean's twilight zone.

Sulfolipids dramatically decrease phosphorus demand by picocyanobacteria in oligotrophic marine environments.

Quantifying 3H-thymidine incorporation rates by a phylogenetically defined group of marine planktonic bacteria (Bacteriodetes phylum).

Relationships between bacterial community structure, light, and carbon cycling in the eastern subarctic North Pacific

Impact of suboxia on sinking particulate organic carbon: Enhanced carbon flux and preferential degradation of amino acids via denitrification

Seasonal variation in sedimentary amino acids and the association of organic matter with mineral surfaces in a sandy eelgrass meadow

Evidence of tight coupling between bacteria and particulate organic carbon during seasonal stratification of Lake Michigan.

Microbiological, molecular biological and stable isotope evidence for nitrogen fixation in the open waters of Lake Michigan

General Interest Articles

Tracking hydrocarbon plume transport and biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon

Camilli R., Reddy C. M., Yoerger D. R., Van Mooy B. A. S., Jakuba M. V., Kinsey J. C., McIntyre C. P., Sylvan S. P., and Maloney J. V.

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Vertical profile of water-column chemistry, ~4 km from the well site at 28.7352°N 88.3892°W. Aromatic hydrocarbon values are expressed on a relative (logarithmic) scale using in situ ultraviolet flourometry, whereas hydrocarbon measurements determined via mass spectrometry are ratioed to water (m/z 17) to correct for variability in instrumental response. Mass spectrometer concentration values are unitless (expressed on a relative scale).

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» Full text of article can be found here.

Science. 330: 201-204 (2010)

Abstract
The Deepwater Horizon blowout is the largest offshore oil spill in history. We present results from a subsurface hydrocarbon survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a ship-cabled sampler. Our findings indicate the presence of a continuous plume of oil, more than 35 kilometers in length, at approximately 1100 meters depth that persisted for months without substantial biodegradation. Samples collected from within the plume reveal monoaromatic petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in excess of 50 micrograms per liter. These data indicate that monoaromatic input to this plume was at least 5500 kilograms per day, which is more than double the total source rate of all natural seeps of the monoaromatic petroleum hydrocarbons in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Dissolved oxygen concentrations suggest that microbial respiration rates within the plume were not appreciably more than 1 micromolar oxygen per day.

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