Bacterial oil degradation

Bacterial DNA was acquired from two different types of in situ field systems used to investigate oil biodegradation processes. Oil-coated clay beads were used as carrier material for the oil in the one system, together with uncoated beads as blank samples. The other system used hydrophobic Fluortex fabrics as carrier material for the oil and uncoated fabrics as blanks. The Fluortex system was used in two variations, an uncovered (open) one where the samples were exposed to light and a covered (closed) one where the samples were kept in dark. The clay bead and Fluortex systems were deployed for a period of 2 month in winter in a harbor area in the Trondheims Fjord. Samples from the clay bead system were taken at the day of deployment and 7, 14, 28 and 56 (T0-T4) days after deployment. Samples from the Fluortex system were taken at the day of deployment and 7, 13, 31 and 55 (T0-T4) days after deployment. DNA was extracted from the clay beads and the Fluortex fabrics and the v3+v4 region of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified by PCR. PCR products were pooled in a library and sequenced on MiSeq.