Deepwater Horizon spill impacts to marine biofilm microbiomes in historic shipwreck habitats

This study is part of the Gulf of Mexico-Shipwreck Corrosion, Hydrocarbon Exposure, Microbiology, and Archaeology (GoM-SCHEMA) Study. The natural breakdown of wooden and metal-hulled shipwrecks over time is influenced by microorganisms. Microorganisms colonize a shipwreck immediately after the vessel comes to rest on the seafloor. Bacteria and archaea form communities on the surface of exposed materials such as wood or metal. As the communities grow and expand, a biofilm forms. This biofilm establishes conditions that allow for settlement of higher trophic levels which, in turn, attract larger, mobile fauna. This diverse community of micro- and macrofauna comprises a small ecosystem. In time, the shipwreck becomes an artificial reef. The nature of the biofilm community structure and function is not entirely understood. The goal of this study is to understand the changes to deep-sea biofilms caused by in situ exposure to residual spill contaminants through a comparative study involving historic shipwrecks within and external to the acute spill footprint.

本研究隶属于墨西哥湾-沉船腐蚀、烃类暴露、微生物学与考古学（Gulf of Mexico-Shipwreck Corrosion, Hydrocarbon Exposure, Microbiology, and Archaeology, 缩写GoM-SCHEMA）研究项目。木质与金属壳体沉船随时间推移的自然锈蚀分解过程会受到微生物的调控。在沉船落座于海底之后，微生物会即刻在其表面定殖。细菌与古菌会在裸露的木质、金属等材料表面形成微生物群落。随着群落不断生长扩张，生物膜（biofilm）随之形成。该生物膜会营造出适宜更高营养级生物定殖的微环境，进而吸引体型更大的移动型动物类群。这类由微型与大型动物共同构成的多样化群落，共同组成了一个小型深海生态系统。随着时间推移，沉船最终会演变为人工鱼礁。当前学界对于生物膜群落的结构与功能特性尚未完全明晰。本研究的核心目标为，通过对比研究急性溢油足迹范围内与范围外的历史沉船样本，解析深海生物膜因原位暴露于溢油残留污染物而发生的群落变化。