Role of cyanobacteria in the biodegradation of crude oil by a tropical cyanobacterial mat

Cyanobacterial mats are ubiquitous in tropical petroleum-polluted environments. They form a high biodiversity microbial consortium that contains efficient hydrocarbons degraders. A cyanobacterial mat collected from a petroleum-contaminated environment located in Indonesia was studied for its biodegradation potential. In the field, the natural mat was shown to degrade efficiently the crude oil present in the environment. This natural mat demonstrated also a strong activity of degradation on model crude oil under laboratory conditions. In axenic cultures, the monospecific cyanobacterium Phormidium animale that constitute the bulk of the biomass did not exhibit any degradative capacity on hydrocarbons in the range of C13-C35 carbon atom number either in autotrophic or heterotrophic conditions. It was concluded that this cyanobacterial strain living on a heavily contaminated site had no direct effect on biodegradation of crude oil, the degradation activity being exclusively achieved by the other microorganisms present in the microbial consortium of the mat.

Novel marine flagellate fatty acid: structural elucidation by GC-MS analysis of DMOX derivatives and DMDS adducts

In situ biodegradation experiments of marine particles were performed in deep Atlantic waters. Lipid changes were associated with the colonization of the decaying detritus by marine flagellates smaller than 10 microm in size. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) of these flagellates showed high proportion of a FAME with a molecular weight (MW) of 320. Its structure could not be unambiguously resolved by retention times on gas chromatography runs using polar and nonpolar columns, nor by routine gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Complementary GC-MS analysis of two types of derivatives was performed to fully elucidate the structure of this novel acid. GC-MS analysis of 4,4-dimethyloxazoline (DMOX) derivative of the compound enabled localization of a double bond in position Delta17, whereas other double bond locations could not be unambiguously located by spectrum interpretation. DMDS addition on the flagellate biomarker produced monocyclic triadducts. Fragment suites corresponding to gradual losses of thiomethyl substituents indicated the presence of a five-membered thioether cycle, located on the methyl side of the derivative. Fragment suites produced by cleavage of C linked to sulfured substituents revealed various possible structures. However, interpretation of the spectra in relation with the fragmentation of the DMOX derivative yielded a convergent identification of the flagellate biomarker, as a non-methylene-interrupted C20:3Delta7,13,17 FAME.

Hydrocarbons in surface sediments from the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary, East China Sea

Sedimentary aliphatic (AH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in the Changjiang Estuary and the adjacent East China Sea. Total AH ranged from 2.20 to 11.82 microg g(-1) and consisted of n-alkanes and a dominant petroleum-related unresolved complex mixture (UCM). Within the n-alkanes, terrestrial plant wax compounds prevailed at nearly all stations. Of the PAHs, biogenic perylene dominated at stations receiving riverine inputs. Anthropogenic PAHs originating from combustion/pyrolysis processes varied from 17 to 157 ng g(-1), while fossil PAH concentrations ranged from 42 to 187 ng g(-1). Both biogenic and anthropogenic hydrocarbons are primarily derived from riverine discharges and accumulate at shallow-water stations. Distinct phase associations lead, nevertheless, to different sedimentation patterns. Fossil PAHs are enhanced at offshore stations where they are introduced directly by shipping activities. Biomarker fingerprints ascribe their source to Chinese crude oils. The overall levels of anthropogenic hydrocarbons are low compared to relevant areas worldwide and reveal a low/moderate level of hydrocarbon pollution.

Hydrocarbon contamination of coastal sediments from the Sfax area (Tunisia), Mediterranean Sea

The coastal area off the city of Sfax (730,000 inhabitants), well-known for fisheries and industrial activities, receives high inputs of organic matter mostly anthropogenic. Eighteen stations were selected in the vicinity of the direct discharge of industrial sewage effluents in the sea in order to study the spatial distribution of the organic contamination. Surface sediments sampled in the shallow shelf were analysed for hydrocarbons by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Total hydrocarbon distributions revealed high contamination as compared to other coastal Mediterranean sites, with an average concentration of 1865 ppm/dry weight sediment. Gas chromatographic distribution patterns, values of unresolved mixture/n-alkane ratio and distributions of steranes and hopanes confirmed a petroleum contamination of the Arabian light crude oil type. Biogenic compounds were also identified with a series of short-chain carbon-numbered n-alkenes in the carbon range 16-24.

Physicochemical Characterization of Natural and ex-Situ Reconstructed Sea-Surface Microlayers

Chemical composition and physico-chemical characteristics of natural and ex-situ reconstructed sea surface microlayer samples were studied using a complex methodological approach. Surface microlayer samples and the underlying seawater were collected in different seasons and different weather conditions in the northern most part of the Adriatic sea. The techniques used were thin layer chromatography with flame ionization detection for lipid classes analysis, electrochemical characterization of adsorbable organic substances using the ONP probe, and monolayer techniques for surface pressure (pi) and surface potential (DeltaV) measurements, as well as Brewster angle microscopy. Our results indicated higher enrichment of organic matter for the microlayer sample collected in the warm period of the year (summer). This was reflected in the high surface activity of the present organic substances, and formation of a more condensed layer than for the other two samples collected in the spring. Of the two spring samples, the one sampled on a sunny day was reacher in surface active organic material. We concluded that the most important source of surface active substances is the in-situ production of organic susbtances by the present plankton and bacteria, promoted by sunlight, while antrophogenic input comprises a smaller part of the present organic matter, around 10% for all samples. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in the mediterranean aerosol

The atmospheric transport of organic pollutants over long distances and their effect on the biological cycles of the sea are two major questions of concern in environmental chemistry. These processes are of particular importance in the Mediterranean Sea because of its semi-enclosed characteristics, which determine the accumulation of the pollutants entering into the system. In order to get some insight into these processes a project (PHYCEMED), was developed for the evaluation of the atmospheric budget of organic and inorganic substances in the Western Mediterranean and for the investigation of the exchange mechanisms of these materials across the air/sea interface. A high volume air sampling system including a cascade impactor was placed on board of the R/V le Suroit for collecting the aerosols along several transects parallel to the French, Spanish and North-African coasts, facing areas of different population densities and industrial activities. The cruise was realised on October 1983 and the particulate material was fractionated into the following sizes: 7.2, 3.0, 1.5, 0.96, and 0.03 micron. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the aliphatic and the aromatic hydrocarbons present in these fractions were performed by high resolution gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Hydrocarbons in the Western Mediterranean Sea, 1981

Hydrocarbons in the western Mediterranean Sea were analysed for surface microlayer and subsurface waters during April 1981. Three methods were used for determining both concentrations and markers distribution patterns: U.V. spectrofluorimetry, and original HPLC/U.V. spectrophotometry method and capillary gas liquid chromatography. No systematic relationship was found between concentrations determined by U.V. spectrofluorimetry and HPLC/U.V. spectrophotometry. Concentrations variation ranges are: 0.01-0.20 microgram 1(-1) for dissolved aromatic hydrocarbons; 0.02-0.13 microgram 1(-1) for particulate aromatic hydrocarbons; 0.02-20.57 micrograms 1(-1) for dissolved n-alkanes; 0.13-0.83 microgram 1(-1) for particulate n-alkanes. Surficial waters appear as very slightly polluted with an exception the Ligurian Sea for which highest concentrations were encountered. There is a slight enrichment of particulate hydrocarbons in the surface microlayer in the range 1-3. But, dissolved hydrocarbons can be either depleted or enriched up to 270 times in the surface microlayer, indicating the extreme efficiency of sea-air exchange processes. Aromatic fingerprints and n-alkane distribution patterns are discussed both for pollution and fractionation processes indicators at the sea-air interface.

The diversity of marine sterols and the role of algal bio-masses; from facts to hypothesis

Modern analytical methods have revealed the great variety of marine sterols, which possess many different side chains and unsaturation patterns. Such biochemical transformations require well-defined mechanistic pathways, and there must be some 'Raison d'Etre' for a situation which has withstood evolution and adaptive changes. However, in this area, insufficient and sometimes not very substantial experimental work has made it difficult to see correlations, and hence to form a solid hypothesis. A review is now presented in which the molecules dissolved in sea water, or found in marine organisms are considered with particular reference to algal production, and to the bio-ecological significance of the main sterols.