Tracking total bacterial abundances and Alcanivorax specific abundances with qPCR in Pensacola Beach, June 2010 to June 2011

Bacterial abundances were tracked approximately every 6 weeks for one year beginning in June 2010 in Pensacola Beach. Sand samples were visibly assessed as oil contaminated or "clean" and total genomic DNA was extracted using a MoBio powersoil DNA extraction kit. Total bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances were quantified using taqman qPCR with 331F/772R primers and a 515R probe, while Alcanivorax 16S rRNA gene abundances were quantified with the same probe with 464F/675R primer. This dataset supports the publication: Kostka, J.E., Prakash, O., Overholt, W.A., Green, S.J., Freyer, G., Canion, A., Delgardio, J., Norton, N., Hazen, T.C., & Huettel, M. (2011). Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria and the Bacterial Community Response in Gulf of Mexico Beach Sands Impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77(22): 7962-7974.