Phospholipid Fatty Acid Analyses of Microbial Communities Associated With Oil-Contaminated Soils of Louisiana`s Bay Jimmy.

Phospholipid fatty acid analyses of microbial communities associated with oil-contaminated soils of Louisiana`s Bay Jimmy Piyasa Ghosh*, Kanika S. Inglett and Ramesh Reddy Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States Analysis of phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) patterns in soils allows us to assess the structure of the viable microbial communities in soil ecosystems. Two years after the capping of the Deep Water Horizon oil well in Bay Jimmy area in Louisiana, the soils at certain areas still show oil contamination. Here we determined the PLFA biomarkers in soils that were collected from three sites representing the reference (unoiled, Ref), lightly oiled (LO) and heavily oiled (HO) areas. Soil cores were sectioned at 2 cm depth, homogenized and lyophilized before the lipid extraction for fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis. Results of this study will show a long term impact of presence of oil on soil microbial community structure and species distribution at different depths of soil in affected areas. Keywords: PLFA, microbial community structure, oil spill *Presenting author, 3160 McCarty Hall A, Gainesville, Fl 32611, 352-294-3143, piyasaghosh@ufl.edu