Within the Svalbard archipelago, Kongsfjorden is an important marine ecosystem that is recognised as one of the main representative Arctic glacial fjords. Prokaryotic organisms are key drivers of important ecological processes such as carbon fluxes, nutrient mineralisation, and energy transfer, as well as sentinels of environmental pollution, especially in sediments, that are a repository of contaminants. In some areas of the...

The exploitation of thermophilic hydrocarbon-utilizing bacilli could provide novel environmentally friendly surfactants. In this work, 80 thermophilic bacilli isolated from shallow hydrothermal vents of the Eolian Islands (Italy) were screened for their ability to utilize hydrocarbons and produce biosurfactants (BSs). Among them, 15 strains grew with kerosene or gasoline (2% v/v) as the only carbon and energy source, and most...

Summary Hydrocarbon‐contaminated superficial sediments collected from the Harbor of Milazzo (Tirrenean Sea, northern Sicily), a zone strongly affected by anthropogenic activities, were examined for in situ biodegradative capacities. A culture‐independent molecular phylogenetic approach was used to study the influence of hydrocarbon and nutrient addition on the activity and diversity of the indigenous microbiota during a microc...