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Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.01352-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

EFFECTS OF HEAVY FUEL OIL ON THE BACTERIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF A PRISTINE MICROBIAL MAT

Equipe Environnement et Microbiologie - IPREM UMR5254 - IBEAS, Université de Pau BP1155 - 64013 Pau cedex, France

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: robert.duran{at}univ-pau.fr.

	Abstract

The effects of petroleum contamination on the bacterial community of a pristine microbial mat from Salins-de-Giraud (Camargue, France) have been investigated. The mats were maintained in microcosms and contaminated with No2 fuel oil from the wreck of the "Erika". The evolution of the complex bacterial community was followed by combining analyses based on 16S rRNA genes and their transcripts. 16S rRNA gene-based Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses clearly showed the effect of the heavy fuel oil after 60 days incubation. At the end of the experiment, the initial community structure was recovered illustrating the resilience of this microbial ecosystem. In addition, the responses of the metabolically active bacterial community were evaluated by T-RFLP and clone library analyses based on 16S rRNA. Immediately after the heavy fuel oil was added to the microcosms the structure of the bacterial community was modified indicating a rapid microbial mat response. Members of the Gammaproteobacteria were initially dominant in the contaminated microcosms. Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter were the main representative genera of this class. After 90 days incubation the Gammaproteobacteria were superseded by Bacilli and Alphaproteobacteria. This study shows the major changes that occur in the microbial mat community at different time periods following contamination. At the conclusion of the experiment the RNA approach also demonstrated the resilience of the microbial mat community to resist to environmental stress resulting from oil pollution.