PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Hazen, Terry C. AU - Dubinsky, Eric A. AU - DeSantis, Todd Z. AU - Andersen, Gary L. AU - Piceno, Yvette M. AU - Singh, Navjeet AU - Jansson, Janet K. AU - Probst, Alexander AU - Borglin, Sharon E. AU - Fortney, Julian L. AU - Stringfellow, William T. AU - Bill, Markus AU - Conrad, Mark E. AU - Tom, Lauren M. AU - Chavarria, Krystle L. AU - Alusi, Thana R. AU - Lamendella, Regina AU - Joyner, Dominique C. AU - Spier, Chelsea AU - Baelum, Jacob AU - Auer, Manfred AU - Zemla, Marcin L. AU - Chakraborty, Romy AU - Sonnenthal, Eric L. AU - D’haeseleer, Patrik AU - Holman, Hoi-Ying N. AU - Osman, Shariff AU - Lu, Zhenmei AU - Van Nostrand, Joy D. AU - Deng, Ye AU - Zhou, Jizhong AU - Mason, Olivia U. TI - Deep-Sea Oil Plume Enriches Indigenous Oil-Degrading Bacteria AID - 10.1126/science.1195979 DP - 2010 Oct 08 TA - Science PG - 204--208 VI - 330 IP - 6001 4099 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6001/204.short 4100 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6001/204.full SO - Science2010 Oct 08; 330 AB - The biological effects and expected fate of the vast amount of oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon blowout are unknown owing to the depth and magnitude of this event. Here, we report that the dispersed hydrocarbon plume stimulated deep-sea indigenous γ-Proteobacteria that are closely related to known petroleum degraders. Hydrocarbon-degrading genes coincided with the concentration of various oil contaminants. Changes in hydrocarbon composition with distance from the source and incubation experiments with environmental isolates demonstrated faster-than-expected hydrocarbon biodegradation rates at 5°C. Based on these results, the potential exists for intrinsic bioremediation of the oil plume in the deep-water column without substantial oxygen drawdown.