2. Hydrocarbon biodegradation in marine ecosystems

2.1 Hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms and catabolic pathways involved

Due to the ubiquity of biogenic HC at sea, there is a natural diversity of microorganisms capable of degrading a wide variety of hydrocarbons, both aliphatic and aromatic. These microorganisms, known as hydrocarbonoclasts, are found in various marine environmental matrices (water, suspended particles, sediments). They can be found both in heavily contaminated port areas and in preserved environments, where they generally represent less than 1% of the microbial community. They are mainly bacteria, but also archaea, fungi and photosynthetic micro-eukaryotes. The chronic contamination of coastal ecosystems by anthropogenic HC favours the maintenance and even development of populations with this capacity. In environments...