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Title: Metabolic capability and in situ activity of microorganisms in an oil reservoir

Journal Article · · Microbiome
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [3];  [5]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai (China). Shanghai Inst. of Ceramics, Key Lab. for Bioreactor Engineering and Inst. of Applied Chemistry; Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics
  2. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai (China). Shanghai Inst. of Ceramics, Key Lab. for Bioreactor Engineering and Inst. of Applied Chemistry; Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomanufacturing Technology, Shanghai (China)
  4. Univ. of Hong Kong (China). School of Biological Sciences
  5. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Pediatrics and Center for Microbiome Innovation,

Background: Microorganisms have long been associated with oxic and anoxic degradation of hydrocarbons in oil reservoirs and oil production facilities. While we can readily determine the abundance of microorganisms in the reservoir and study their activity in the laboratory, it has been challenging to resolve what microbes are actively participating in crude oil degradation in situ and to gain insight into what metabolic pathways they deploy. Results: Here, we describe the metabolic potential and in situ activity of microbial communities obtained from the Jiangsu Oil Reservoir (China) by an integrated metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approach. Almost complete genome sequences obtained by differential binning highlight the distinct capability of different community members to degrade hydrocarbons under oxic or anoxic condition. Transcriptomic data delineate active members of the community and give insights that Acinetobacter species completely oxidize alkanes into carbon dioxide with the involvement of oxygen, and Archaeoglobus species mainly ferment alkanes to generate acetate which could be consumed by Methanosaeta species. Furthermore, nutritional requirements based on amino acid and vitamin auxotrophies suggest a complex network of interactions and dependencies among active community members that go beyond classical syntrophic exchanges; this network defines community composition and microbial ecology in oil reservoirs undergoing secondary recovery. Conclusion: Our data expand current knowledge of the metabolic potential and role in hydrocarbon metabolism of individual members of thermophilic microbial communities from an oil reservoir. The study also reveals potential metabolic exchanges based on vitamin and amino acid auxotrophies indicating the presence of complex network of interactions between microbial taxa within the community.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012586
OSTI ID:
1510971
Journal Information:
Microbiome, Vol. 6, Issue 1; ISSN 2049-2618
Publisher:
BioMed CentralCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 55 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Microaerobic conditions caused the overwhelming dominance of Acinetobacter spp. and the marginalization of Rhodococcus spp. in diesel fuel/crude oil mixture-amended enrichment cultures journal October 2019
Metabolic potential of uncultured bacteria and archaea associated with petroleum seepage in deep-sea sediments journal April 2019
Aerobic microbial taxa dominate deep subsurface cores from the Alberta oil sands journal April 2018
Novel energy conservation strategies and behaviour of Pelotomaculum schinkii driving syntrophic propionate catabolism journal October 2018
Characteristics of crude oil-degrading bacteria Gordonia iterans isolated from marine coastal in Taean sediment journal October 2018
Long-term succession in a coal seam microbiome during in situ biostimulation of coalbed-methane generation journal October 2018
The social network of microorganisms — how auxotrophies shape complex communities journal March 2018
Oil reservoirs, an exceptional habitat for microorganisms journal March 2019
Anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation in candidate phylum ‘Atribacteria’ (JS1) inferred from genomics journal June 2019
Composition of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in an Alkali-Surfactant-Polyacrylamide-Flooded Oil Reservoir and the Responses of Microcosms to Nutrients journal September 2019


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