@article {Steele2017, title = {Occurrence of chlorophyll allomers during virus-induced mortality and population decline in the ubiquitous picoeukaryote Ostreococcus tauri}, journal = {Environmental Microbiology}, volume = {in press}, year = {2017}, note = {ISBN: 3907122046 tex.mendeley-tags: RCC745}, month = {nov}, pages = {1{\textendash}41}, abstract = {Phytoplankton have been shown to harbour a diversity of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB), yet it is not understood how these phytoplankton-associated HCB would respond in the event of an oil spill at sea. Here, we assess the diversity and dynamics of the bacterial community associated with a natural population of marine phytoplankton under oil spill-simulated conditions, and compare it to that of the free-living (non phytoplankton-associated) bacterial community. Whilst the crude oil severely impacted the phytoplankton population and was likely conducive to marine oil snow (MOS) formation, analysis of the MiSeq-derived 16S rRNA data revealed dramatic and differential shifts in the oil-amended communities that included blooms of recognised HCB (e.g. Thalassospira, Cycloclasticus), including putative novel phyla, as well as other groups with previously unqualified oil-degrading potential (Olleya, Winogradskyella, and members of the inconspicuous BD7-3 phylum). Notably, the oil biodegradation potential of the phytoplankton-associated community exceeded that of the free-living community, and it showed a preference to degrade substituted and non-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Our study provides evidence of compartmentalisation of hydrocarbon-degrading capacity in the marine water column, wherein HCB associated with phytoplankton are better tuned to degrading crude oil hydrocarbons than that by the community of planktonic free-living bacteria.}, keywords = {biodegradation, crude oil, eukaryotic phytoplankton, hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (HCB), marine environment, micro- algae, RCC745}, issn = {14622912}, doi = {10.1111/1462-2920.13980}, url = {http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/1462-2920.13980}, author = {Steele, Deborah J. and Kimmance, Susan A. and Franklin, Daniel J. and Airs, Ruth L.} }