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dc.contributor.authorAlvarez, Laura Acuña
dc.contributor.authorExton, Daniel A
dc.contributor.authorTimmis, Kenneth N
dc.contributor.authorSuggett, David J
dc.contributor.authorMcGenity, Terry J
dc.date.accessioned2010-04-12T14:34:29Z
dc.date.available2010-04-12T14:34:29Z
dc.date.issued2009-12
dc.identifier.citationCharacterization of marine isoprene-degrading communities. 2009, 11 (12):3280-91 Environ. Microbiol.en
dc.identifier.issn1462-2920
dc.identifier.pmid19807779
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/j.1462-2920.2009.02069.x
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10033/96315
dc.description.abstractIsoprene is a volatile and climate-altering hydrocarbon with an atmospheric concentration similar to that of methane. It is well established that marine algae produce isoprene; however, until now there was no specific information about marine isoprene sinks. Here we demonstrate isoprene consumption in samples from temperate and tropical marine and coastal environments, and furthermore show that the most rapid degradation of isoprene coincides with the highest rates of isoprene production in estuarine sediments. Isoprene-degrading enrichment cultures, analysed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and by culturing, were generally dominated by Actinobacteria, but included other groups such as Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, previously not known to degrade isoprene. In contrast to specialist methane-oxidizing bacteria, cultivated isoprene degraders were nutritionally versatile, and nearly all of them were able to use n-alkanes as a source of carbon and energy. We therefore tested and showed that the ubiquitous marine hydrocarbon-degrader, Alcanivorax borkumensis, could also degrade isoprene. A mixture of the isolates consumed isoprene emitted from algal cultures, confirming that isoprene can be metabolized at low, environmentally relevant concentrations, and suggesting that, in the absence of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons, algal production of isoprene could maintain viable populations of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes. This discovery of a missing marine sink for isoprene is the first step in obtaining more robust predictions of its flux, and suggests that algal-derived isoprene provides an additional source of carbon for diverse microbes in the oceans.
dc.language.isoenen
dc.subject.meshActinobacteriaen
dc.subject.meshAlcanivoraceaeen
dc.subject.meshAlphaproteobacteriaen
dc.subject.meshBacteroidetesen
dc.subject.meshBase Sequenceen
dc.subject.meshButadienesen
dc.subject.meshHemiterpenesen
dc.subject.meshMolecular Sequence Dataen
dc.subject.meshPentanesen
dc.subject.meshRNA, Ribosomal, 16Sen
dc.subject.meshSeawateren
dc.subject.meshWater Pollutants, Chemicalen
dc.titleCharacterization of marine isoprene-degrading communities.en
dc.typeArticleen
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK.en
dc.identifier.journalEnvironmental microbiologyen
refterms.dateFOA2010-12-15T00:00:00Z
html.description.abstractIsoprene is a volatile and climate-altering hydrocarbon with an atmospheric concentration similar to that of methane. It is well established that marine algae produce isoprene; however, until now there was no specific information about marine isoprene sinks. Here we demonstrate isoprene consumption in samples from temperate and tropical marine and coastal environments, and furthermore show that the most rapid degradation of isoprene coincides with the highest rates of isoprene production in estuarine sediments. Isoprene-degrading enrichment cultures, analysed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and by culturing, were generally dominated by Actinobacteria, but included other groups such as Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, previously not known to degrade isoprene. In contrast to specialist methane-oxidizing bacteria, cultivated isoprene degraders were nutritionally versatile, and nearly all of them were able to use n-alkanes as a source of carbon and energy. We therefore tested and showed that the ubiquitous marine hydrocarbon-degrader, Alcanivorax borkumensis, could also degrade isoprene. A mixture of the isolates consumed isoprene emitted from algal cultures, confirming that isoprene can be metabolized at low, environmentally relevant concentrations, and suggesting that, in the absence of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons, algal production of isoprene could maintain viable populations of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes. This discovery of a missing marine sink for isoprene is the first step in obtaining more robust predictions of its flux, and suggests that algal-derived isoprene provides an additional source of carbon for diverse microbes in the oceans.


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