Phytoplankton Response to South Louisiana Crude Oil Exposure: Determining Impacts at Individual, Community, Toxin Production, Enzymatic-Activity and Gene-Expression Levels

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) raised an important question. What is the ecological impact of the oil, the dispersant, and the dispersed oil to the GoM ecosystem? Significant and varying research efforts have contributed answers to this question. However, to better understand the complete ecological consequences of the spill in the GoM, the impact of the spill at the base of marine food web should be examined. This research aims to understand impact of the spilled oil, South Louisiana crude oil (LSC), the chemical dispersant, Corexit® EC9500A, and the dispersed oil on phytoplankton communities in the GoM at individual, community, toxin-production, enzymatic, and gene-expression levels. At the individual level, phytoplankton size influenced tolerance to crude oil, but taxonomic group seemed to be a more predominant criterion. In general, diatoms showed better tolerance to crude oil than dinoflagellates. Naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene cannot be solely used as surrogates to assess crude oil toxicity on phytoplankton. Community-level effects were investigated under oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions. Diatoms showed the greatest tolerance to crude oil exposures under every condition that was assessed. Nevertheless, different diatom groups had distinct responses under different nutrient regimes. The amount of nutrients greatly influences phytoplankton response during crude oil exposure. Crude oil also affects toxin production of two ecologically important toxic phytoplankton species of the GoM, Karenia brevis and Prorocentrum minimum. It was revealed that reactive oxygen species are activated in phytoplankton exposed to crude oil. Phytoplankton species also displayed signs of oxidative stress and damage in their lipid structure under crude oil exposure. A gene expression study indicated that crude oil does not cause significant difference in the expression levels of selected genes between the control group and samples treated with crude oil. This research provides essential data for impact assessment of oil spills and pollution on phytoplankton ecology and bloom dynamics in the GoM. These datasets contribute substantially to existing scientific knowledge about the region and provide baseline information for subsequent research efforts that seek to further understand the impact of oil on the marine planktonic ecosystem in the GoM.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Grantor

Oceanography and Coastal Sciences

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Ozhan, Koray

• phytoplankton
• crude oil
• Gulf of Mexico
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Statement dc:rights

• withheld
• Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Identifier

etd-03282014-140002
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/610

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.lsu.edu:gradschool_dissertations-1609