Enzymatic activity of microorganisms associated with macroscopic oil aggregates, May 2010

This dataset is from a 21-day laboratory incubation in rotating glass bottles (roller bottles) and has enzymatic activities and cell numbers of microbes associated with macroscopic oil aggregates (marine oil snow) that formed in water with an oil slick from the blowout. Oil aggregates that formed in roller bottles were densely colonized by heterotrophic bacteria, exhibiting high rates of enzymatic activity (lipase hydrolysis) indicative of oil degradation. Ambient waters surrounding aggregates also showed enhanced microbial activities not directly associated with primary oil-degradation (β-glucosidase; peptidase), as well as a twofold increase in DOC. Concurrent changes in fluorescence properties of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) suggest an increase in oil-derived, aromatic hydrocarbons in the DOC pool. Thus our data indicate that oil aggregates mediate, by two distinct mechanisms, the transfer of hydrocarbons to the deep sea: a microbially-derived flux of oil-derived DOC from sinking oil aggregates into the ambient water column, and rapid sedimentation of the oil aggregates themselves, serving as vehicles for oily particulate matter as well as oil aggregate-associated microbial communities.本数据集源自一项为期21天的旋转玻璃瓶（roller bottles，滚瓶）实验室培养实验，涵盖了与宏观油聚集体（marine oil snow，海洋油雪）相关的微生物酶活性与细胞计数，这类聚集体形成于存在井喷溢油的水体中。滚瓶中形成的油聚集体被异养细菌高密度定殖，表现出可指示石油降解过程的高酶活性（脂肪酶水解活性）。聚集体周边的水体同样呈现出与初次石油降解无直接关联的微生物活性增强（涵盖β-葡萄糖苷酶、肽酶活性），且溶解有机碳（Dissolved Organic Carbon, DOC）含量提升一倍。有色溶解有机物（Colored Dissolved Organic Matter, CDOM）的荧光特性同步发生变化，表明DOC库中石油来源的芳香烃含量有所增加。综上，本研究数据表明油聚集体通过两种截然不同的途径介导烃类物质向深海的转移：一是沉降中的油聚集体释放石油来源的DOC，形成微生物介导的DOC通量进入周边水柱；二是油聚集体自身快速沉降，作为含油颗粒物以及聚集体相关微生物群落的载体完成转移。