Ocean Microbes That Eat Oil and Pollution

When oil spills occur, the images that dominate the news

are coated birds, damaged coastlines, and blackened water.

But beneath the surface, something remarkable often happens.

Microbes begin to eat the oil.

Within days of the spill, entire microbial communities

can shift.

Bacteria that were previously rare, suddenly

multiply, feeding on the hydrocarbons released

into the water.

Scientists often describe these microbes

as oceans first responders.

Because long before humans can deploy clean-up ships

or skimmers, microbes are already at work.

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Here's the problem.

We have ocean pollution.

It comes in all forms.

And it's one of the biggest environmental challenges

facing marine ecosystems.

Oil spills happen all over the world

on a regular basis, more than we think,

not necessarily large oil spills, although those happen,

but we started to get a lot of little spills.

Oil spills release massive quantities of hydrocarbons

into the environments, into any ocean environment.

One of the most famous examples, of course,

of the Deep Water Horizon spill in 2010,

which released about 4.9 million barrels of oil

into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest

marine oil spill in US history.

Oil spreads quickly across the ocean surface,

but it also dissolves and dissipates through the water column,

exposing fish, plankton, and deep sea ecosystems

to toxic compounds.

And oil is only one part of the pollution problem.

The ocean is also accumulating plastic debris,

synthetic chemicals, industrial pollutants,

and agricultural runoff.

Plastics also are estimated to reach

11 million metric tons entering the ocean every year

if current trends continue.

Many of these pollutants persist for decades or centuries.

Traditional cleanup methods such as

skimming oil from the surface or collecting debris

can help, but they are expensive and rarely remove everything.

However, the ocean has its own response, microbes.

One of the most important discoveries

about microbial pollution cleanup came

after the Deep Sea Horizon spill.

Scientists studying the Gulf of Mexico

noticed something unusual.

Certain bacteria began to explode in population.

Researchers analyzing seawater samples discovered

large microbial blooms composed of oil degrading bacteria.

These microbes were feeding on hydrocarbons

released from the spill.

The bacteria were not introduced by humans.

They were already present in the ocean

waiting for an energy source.

When the oil arrived, they multiplied rapidly.

Key findings from these studies included

oil degrading bacteria increased dramatically

and contaminated waters.

Micros metabolized hydrocarbons as an energy source.

An entire microbial communities reorganized

around oil degradation.

Several bacteria groups became dominant during the spill.

Important genera, and I'm going to try

and pronounce this properly,

included alkanivorex bacteria

specialized in breaking down alkanes,

a common type of hydrocarbons found in crude oil.

In normal ocean conditions,

these microbes are relatively rare,

but after oil spills, they can dominate microbial communities.

In some contaminated waters,

they have been shown to make up

up to 90% of microbial populations.

Also, there's cycloclasticus.

This bacteria targets aromatic hydrocarbons,

which are some of the most toxic compounds of crude oil.

These compounds include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

often called pages.

Pages can damage fish development

and accumulate in food webs.

Cycloclasticus bacteria break these compounds down,

reducing their persistence in the environment.

Marino bacteria are versatile oil degraders.

They can metabolize a wide range of hydrocarbons

and often work alongside other microbes

in mixed communities.

These microbial teams called consortia

collectively break down different parts of the oil mixture.

Together, these microbes act like the biochemical cleanup crew.

Crude oil is made up of complex hydrocarbon molecules.

These molecules store energy,

which microbes can use to grow and reproduce.

Some bacteria produce specialized enzymes

that allow them to break hydrocarbons apart.

The process generally works like this.

First, the enzymes attack large hydrocarbon molecules.

These molecules are broken down into smaller compounds.

The bacteria then metabolize these compounds as fuel.

Through this metabolism,

hydrocarbons are converted into carbon dioxide, water,

and new microbial mass.

Essentially, microbes are transforming oil

into biological material.

In some environments,

this process can remove a significant portion

of spilt oil naturally over time.

For example, studies in the deep water horizon

still suggest that my microbial degradation

remove large quantities of dissolved hydrocarbons

from the deep plume within months.

Mycrobes are therefore acting

as chemical recyclers of the ocean.

They transform pollutants into compounds

that can reenter natural biogeochemical cycles.

Scientists are now exploring how microbial processes

could be enhanced to help clean pollution more effectively.

One research also involves bio stimulation.

This strategy adds nutrients like nitrogen

or phosphorus to polluted waters

to stimulate growth of oil degradating microbes.

Because microbial growth is often limited by nutrients,

adding small amounts can accelerate bio degradation.

This technique was used during the Exxon Valdez oil spill

in Alaska, where nutrient fertilizers

were applied to contaminated shorelines

to stimulate microbial oil degradation.

Another emerging field is plastic degrading microbes.

For decades, scientists believed

plastic were almost impossible for microbes to digest.

But in 2016, researchers discovered a bacterium

called Indionella, Saksiesis.

I butchered that, I apologize.

But they could break down PET plastics,

the type that are used in many bottles.

The bacterium produces enzymes that degrade PET

into its chemical building blocks.

Researchers are now studying

whether similar microbes exist in marine environments.

Other studies have identified marine fungi

and bacteria capable of slowing degrading polyethylene,

the most common plastic in the ocean.

Scientists are now exploring microbial consortia

where multiple microbes work together

to degrade complex pollutants.

One species might break down large plastic polymers

while another consumes a smaller fragments.

Together, they complete the entire process.

The research is still developing,

but it could transform how we approach pollution cleanup.

Now, I want to just let you know that there are limits.

Microbial cleanup is powerful,

but it is not a magic solution.

Large spills can cause severe ecological damage

and right off the bat.

Oil can smother coral reefs,

poison fish larvae, and destroy coastal habitats.

And some pollutants are extremely resistant

to microbial breakdown.

Examples include certain types of plastics,

persistent organic pollutants, and heavy metals.

In many cases, microbial cleanup

can take years or decades.

Even after the Deepwater Horizon spill,

traces of oil remained in sediments

and deep sea ecosystems for years.

Microbes help mitigate damage,

but they cannot fully reverse it.

The best solution to pollution remains prevention.

I want to reiterate how important it is

to understand how these microbes work,

but all in small doses.

The immediate effect of having

these pollutants in the water

can be detrimental to all ocean ecosystems

and the species that live within it.

This is not a cure and to say,

hey, this is how we solve oil spills.

This is where we can use oil on a regular basis

because we don't have to worry about oil spills anymore.

No, this is just what we're discovering

what happens in the ocean.

Maybe in some cases we'll be able to get it at some point,

but not today, not tomorrow,

and not for the near future.

We need to divest ourselves away from oil products,

away from using oil and drilling for oil

to protect our oceans for a myriad of reasons.

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If you just let me finish these last final thoughts.

All right, microbes,

remind us of something important about the ocean

that life evolves solutions to environmental challenges.

Over millions of years,

microbes evolve ways to break down natural hydrocarbons

that seep from sea floor.

Today, those same microbes help clean up human pollution

with, of course, some limits.

They are part of the ocean's resilience,

but the resilience has limits.

Microbes can help repair damage.

They cannot undo all of it.

Tomorrow, we're going to explore a new frontier.

Scientists are now engineering microbes

to help solve climate challenges.

And that is where synthetic biology

enters the ocean conservation.

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