The association between phytoplankton blooms and oil spills is still controversial despite numerous studies. Surprisingly, to date, there have been no studies on the effect of bacterial communities (BCs) exposed to crude oil on phytoplankton growth, even though crude oil changes BCs, which can then affect phytoplankton growth and species composition. Co-culture with crude oil-exposed BCs significantly stimulated the growth of Prorocentrum texanum in the laboratory. To gain more direct evidence, oil-degrading bacteria from oil-contaminated sediment collected after the Texas City “Y” oil spill were isolated, and changes in dinoflagellate growth when co-cultured with single bacterial isolates was investigated. The oil-degrading bacterial isolates significantly stimulated the growth of dinoflagellates (axenic and xenic cultures) through releasing growth-promoting substances. This study provides new evidence for the potential role of oil-degrading bacteria in the formation of phytoplankton blooms after an oil spill.

尽管进行了大量研究，但浮游植物水华与溢油之间的关系仍存在争议。令人惊讶的是，迄今为止，还没有关于暴露于原油的细菌群落（BCs）对浮游植物生长的影响的研究，即使原油改变了BCs，这也会影响浮游植物的生长和物种组成。与原油接触的BCs共培养可显着刺激德州原螯藻的生长在实验室里。为了获得更直接的证据，分离了得克萨斯州“ Y”号漏油事件后收集的，被石油污染的沉积物中的降解石油的细菌，并研究了与单一细菌分离株共培养时鞭毛藻生长的变化。降解油脂的细菌分离物通过释放促进生长的物质，极大地刺激了鞭毛藻的生长（轴生和异种培养）。这项研究提供了新的证据，证明溢油后降解油脂的细菌在浮游植物水华形成中的潜在作用。