Microbial diversity and anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation potential in an oil-contaminated mangrove sediment.

BACKGROUND: Mangrove forests are coastal wetlands that provide vital ecosystem services and serve as barriers against natural disasters like tsunamis, hurricanes and tropical storms. Mangroves harbour a large diversity of organisms, including microorganisms with important roles in nutrient cycling and availability. Due to tidal influence, mangroves are sites where crude oil from spills farther away can accumulate. The relationship between mangrove bacterial diversity and oil degradation in mangrove sediments remains poorly understood. RESULTS: Mangrove sediment was sampled from 0-5, 15-20 and 35-40 cm depth intervals from the Suruí River mangrove (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), which has a history of oil contamination. DGGE fingerprinting for bamA, dsr and 16S rRNA encoding fragment genes, and qPCR analysis using dsr and 16S rRNA gene fragment revealed differences with sediment depth. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene diversity revealed changes with depth. DGGE for bamA and dsr genes shows that the anaerobic hydrocarbon-degrading community profile also changed between 5 and 15 cm depth, and is similar in the two deeper sediments, indicating that below 15 cm the anaerobic hydrocarbon-degrading community appears to be well established and homogeneous in this mangrove sediment. qPCR analysis revealed differences with sediment depth, with general bacterial abundance in the top layer (0-5 cm) being greater than in both deeper sediment layers (15-20 and 35-40 cm), which were similar to each other.

Singlet Oxygen and the Production of Sulfur Oxygenates of Nickel(II) and Palladium(II) Thiolates.

The metal dithiolate [1,5-bis(2-mercaptoethyl)-1,5-diazacyclooctane]nickel(II) (Ni-1), a sterically hindered analogue (Ni-1), and the palladium analogue Pd-1 react with (1)Delta O(2) to yield a variety of stable and isolable metallosulfones (MS(O(2))R) and metallosulfoxides (MS(O)R). Singlet oxygen was generated both photochemically with the sensitizer Rose Bengal and thermally by decomposition of the 1,4-endoperoxide of 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene. Increased rates and oxygenation yields are observed upon excitation of O(2) from its ground state, (3)Sigma, to the excited state, (1)Delta. The reactions are both solvent and concentration dependent, with sulfones generally favored in acetonitrile and sulfoxides favored in methanol. There is also a ligand and metal effect. The proposed mechanistic pathways involving a persulfoxide precursor to single sulfur site O(2) addition (producing metallosulfones) and adjacent sulfur site O(2) addition (producing metallosulfoxides) are consistent with product distribution, comparison to the much studied oxygenation of organic sulfides, and previous isotopic labeling experiments (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 1791; 1992, 114, 4601; Inorg. Chem. 1993, 32, 4171).