Kleindienst Sara

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Last Name
Kleindienst
First Name
Sara
ORCID
0000-0001-8304-9149

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  • Preprint
    Chemical dispersants can suppress the activity of natural oil-degrading microorganisms
    ( 2015-09) Kleindienst, Sara ; Seidel, Michael ; Ziervogel, Kai ; Grim, Sharon L. ; Loftis, Kathy ; Harrison, Sarah ; Malkin, Sairah Y. ; Perkins, Matthew J. ; Field, Jennifer ; Sogin, Mitchell L. ; Dittmar, Thorsten ; Passow, Uta ; Medeiros, Patricia M. ; Joye, Samantha B.
    During the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the application of 7 million liters of chemical dispersants aimed to stimulate microbial crude oil degradation by increasing the bioavailability of oil compounds. However, the effects of dispersants on oil biodegradation rates are debated. In laboratory experiments, we simulated environmental conditions comparable in the hydrocarbon-rich, 1100m deep, plume that formed during the Deepwater Horizon discharge. The presence of dispersant significantly altered the microbial community composition through selection for potential dispersant-degrading Colwellia, which also bloomed in situ in Gulf deep-waters during the discharge. In contrast, oil addition lacking dispersant stimulated growth of natural hydrocarbon-degrading Marinobacter. Dispersants did not enhance heterotrophic microbial activity or hydrocarbon oxidation rates. Extrapolating this comprehensive data set to real world scenarios questions whether dispersants stimulate microbial oil degradation in deep ocean waters and instead highlights that dispersants can exert a negative effect on microbial hydrocarbon degradation rates.
  • Article
    Species-specific responses of marine bacteria to environmental perturbation
    (Oxford University Press, 2023-09-22) Pena-Montenegro, Tito D. ; Kleindienst, Sara ; Allen, Andrew E. ; Eren, A. Murat ; McCrow, John P. ; |Sanchez-Calderon, Juan D. ; Arnold, Jonathan ; Joye, Samantha B.
    Environmental perturbations shape the structure and function of microbial communities. Oil spills are a major perturbation and resolving spills often requires active measures like dispersant application that can exacerbate the initial disturbance. Species-specific responses of microorganisms to oil and dispersant exposure during such perturbations remain largely unknown. We merged metatranscriptomic libraries with pangenomes to generate Core-Accessory Metatranscriptomes (CA-Metatranscriptomes) for two microbial hydrocarbon degraders that played important roles in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Colwellia CA-Metatranscriptome illustrated pronounced dispersant-driven acceleration of core (~41%) and accessory gene (~59%) transcription, suggesting an opportunistic strategy. Marinobacter responded to oil exposure by expressing mainly accessory genes (~93%), suggesting an effective hydrocarbon-degrading lifestyle. The CA-Metatranscriptome approach offers a robust way to identify the underlying mechanisms of key microbial functions and highlights differences of specialist-vs-opportunistic responses to environmental disturbance.