This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/bab.2042. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Microbial prospection of communities that produce biosurfactants from the water column and sediments of the Gulf of Mexico Morales-Guzmán, D. 1 , Martínez-Morales, F. 1 , Bertrand, B. 2 , Rosas-Galván, N.S. 1 , Curiel-Maciel, N. 1 , Teymennet-Ramírez, K.V. 1 , Mazón-Román, L. 1 , Licea-Navarro, A.F. 3 , Trejo-Hernández, M.R. 1 1. Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. 62209. 2. Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICF-UNAM). Avenida Universidad 2001, Chamilpa, 62210 Cuernavaca, Morelos México. 3. Departamento de Biotecnología Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, B.C., México Running title: Microbial biosurfactants from Gulf of México  Corresponding author: María del Refugio Trejo-Hernández, mtrejo@uaem.mx Phone +52-777-3297057 Abstract Microbial communities capable of hydrocarbon degradation linked to biosurfactant (BS) and bioemulsifier (BE) production are basically unexplored in the Gulf of México (GOM). In this work, the BS and BE production of culturable marine bacterial hydrocarbonoclasts consortia isolated from two sites (the Perdido Fold Belt and Coatzacoalcos area) was investigated. The prospection at different locations and depths led to the screening and isolation of a wide variety of bacterial consortia with BS and BE activities, after culture enrichment with crude oil and glycerol as the carbon sources. At least 55 isolated consortia presented reduction in surface tension (ST) and emulsifying activity (EI 24 ). After colony purification, bacteria were submitted to polyphasic analysis assays that resulted in the identification of different strains of cultivable Gammaproteobacteria Gram (-) Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Erwinia, Pseudomonas Vibrio, Shewanella, Thalassospira, Idiomarina, Pseudoalteromonas, Photobacterium, and Gram (+) Staphylococcus, Bacillus, and Microbacterium. Overall, the best results for ST