Life Sciences Commons^™

Oil Hydrocarbon Degradation By Caspian Sea Microbial Communities, John Miller, Stephen Techtmann, Julian Fortney, Nagissa Mahmoudi, Dominique Joyner, Jiang Liu, Et. Al.

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The Caspian Sea, which is the largest landlocked body of water on the planet, receives substantial annual hydrocarbon input from anthropogenic sources (e.g., industry, agriculture, oil exploration, and extraction) and natural sources (e.g., mud volcanoes and oil seeps). The Caspian Sea also receives substantial amounts of runoff from agricultural and municipal sources, containing nutrients that have caused eutrophication and subsequent hypoxia in the deep, cold waters. The effect of decreasing oxygen saturation and cold temperatures on oil hydrocarbon biodegradation by a microbial community is not well characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of oxic and …