Meet the Microbes Eating the Gulf Oil Spill [Slide Show]
These microscopic life forms are blooming as a result of the oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo 252 deep-sea well
![Meet the Microbes Eating the Gulf Oil Spill [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C8A21F0D-BE02-4EB5-99948D9889731E72.jpg?w=590&h=393)
Meet the Microbes Eating the Gulf Oil Spill [Slide Show]
- THALASSOLITUUS OLEIVORANS: Much like A. borkumensis , T. oleivorans makes its living by turning the alkanes in oil into microbial cells, CO2 and water—and can be found from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, as can other members of the Thalassolituus genus... Courtesy of Michail M. Yakimov / International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
- NEPTUNOMONAS (GENUS): Some members of this genus attack the carcinogenic constituents found in most oil deposits—the aforementioned polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—and can be found throughout the planet's oceans... Courtesy of Masayuki Miyazaki / International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
- OLEISPIRA (GENUS): Another alkane eater (like A. borkumensis ), various Oleispira turn oil into more and more Oleispira cells, along with carbon dioxide and water. One unintended side effect can be local "dead zones," as the industrious microbial consortia, like the one pictured here, consume much of the dissolved oxygen in the seawater as they feast on the oil... Courtesy of Bangor University
- COLWELLIA (GENUS): This clan of oil-eating microbes can be found from cold Arctic and Antarctic waters to the balmy seas of the Gulf of Mexico. It also has the ability to thrive in a variety of habitats, from marine sediments to Arctic sea ice—making it one of the more adaptable spill fighters... Richard A. Finkelstein / NCBI
- DREDGING FOR CYCLOCLASTICUS: Some of the most dangerous constituents of an oil spill are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—volatile molecules that can be highly toxic. Fortunately, at least 23 strains of the bacterial genus Cycloclasticus native to the Gulf of Mexico can degrade such nasty oil constituents by tapping them for energy... Courtesy of Washington State Department of Ecology
- ALCANIVORAX BORKUMENSIS: A rod-shaped bacterium, A. borkumensis has played a role in oil spill cleanups from Alaska ( Exxon Valdez ) to the Mediterranean waters near Spain ( Prestige ). Although it persists in low numbers at all times, the bacterium blooms after an oil spill—and has the ability to both break down the alkanes that make up part of the oil as well as spread a biodispersant that helps other microbes feast on other constituents of the spill... Courtesy of Heimholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI)
