This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Takahata, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Maruyama, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Takahata, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Maruyama, T.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Takahata, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Maruyama, T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2000, p. 73-79, Vol. 66, No. 1
0099-2240/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Distribution and Physiological Characteristics of Hyperthermophiles in the Kubiki Oil Reservoir in Niigata, Japan

Yoh Takahata,1,* Miyuki Nishijima,2 Toshihiro Hoaki,3 and Tadashi Maruyama1

Marine Biotechnology Institute, Kamaishi Laboratories, Kamaishi, Iwate 026-0001,1 Marine Biotechnology Institute, Shimizu Laboratories, Shimizu, Shizuoka 424-0037,2 and Taisei Research Institute, Narashino, Chiba 275-0024,3 Japan

Received 6 July 1999/Accepted 20 October 1999

The distribution of culturable hyperthermophiles was studied in relation to environmental conditions in the Kubiki oil reservoir in Japan, where the temperature was between 50 and 58°C. Dominant hyperthermophilic cocci and rods were isolated and shown to belong to the genera Thermococcus and Thermotoga, respectively, by 16S rDNA analyses. Using the most-probable-number method, we found that hyperthermophilic cocci were widely distributed in several unconnected fault blocks in the Kubiki oil reservoir. In 1996 to 1997, their populations in the production waters from oil wells were 9.2 × 103 to 4.6 × 104 cells/ml, or 10 to 42% of total cocci. On the other hand, hyperthermophilic rods were found in only one fault block of the reservoir with populations less than 10 cells/ml. Dominant Thermococcus and Thermotoga spp. grew at reservoir temperatures and utilized amino acids and sugars, respectively, as sole carbon sources. While organic carbon was plentiful in the environment, these hyperthermophiles were unable to grow in the formation water due to lack of essential nutrients. Concentrations of some organic and inorganic substances differed among fault blocks, indicating that the movement of formation water between fault blocks was restricted. This finding suggests that the supply of nutrients via fluid current is limited in this subterranean environment and that the organisms are starved in the oil reservoir. Under starved conditions at 50°C, culturable cells of Thermococcus sp. remained around the initial cell density for about 200 days, while those of Thermotoga sp. decreased exponentially to 0.01% of the initial cell density after incubation for the same period. The difference in survivability between these two hyperthermophiles seems to reflect their populations in the fault blocks. These results indicate that hyperthermophilic cocci and rods adapt to the subterranean environment of the Kubiki oil reservoir by developing an ability to survive under starved conditions.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Taisei Research Institute, 3-6-2 Akanehama, Narashino, Chiba 275-0024, Japan. Phone: 81-47-453-3901. Fax: 81-47-453-3910. E-mail: yoh.takahata{at}sakura.taisei.co.jp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2000, p. 73-79, Vol. 66, No. 1
0099-2240/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Mardanov, A. V., Ravin, N. V., Svetlitchnyi, V. A., Beletsky, A. V., Miroshnichenko, M. L., Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A., Skryabin, K. G. (2009). Metabolic Versatility and Indigenous Origin of the Archaeon Thermococcus sibiricus, Isolated from a Siberian Oil Reservoir, as Revealed by Genome Analysis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 4580-4588 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pikuta, E. V., Marsic, D., Itoh, T., Bej, A. K., Tang, J., Whitman, W. B., Ng, J. D., Garriott, O. K., Hoover, R. B. (2007). Thermococcus thioreducens sp. nov., a novel hyperthermophilic, obligately sulfur-reducing archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 57: 1612-1618 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grabowski, A., Tindall, B. J., Bardin, V., Blanchet, D., Jeanthon, C. (2005). Petrimonas sulfuriphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a mesophilic fermentative bacterium isolated from a biodegraded oil reservoir. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 55: 1113-1121 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A., Miroshnichenko, M. L., Lebedinsky, A. V., Chernyh, N. A., Nazina, T. N., Ivoilov, V. S., Belyaev, S. S., Boulygina, E. S., Lysov, Y. P., Perov, A. N., Mirzabekov, A. D., Hippe, H., Stackebrandt, E., L'Haridon, S., Jeanthon, C. (2003). Radioisotopic, Culture-Based, and Oligonucleotide Microchip Analyses of Thermophilic Microbial Communities in a Continental High-Temperature Petroleum Reservoir. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 6143-6151 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Takai, K., Kobayashi, H., Nealson, K. H., Horikoshi, K. (2003). Deferribacter desulfuricans sp. nov., a novel sulfur-, nitrate- and arsenate-reducing thermophile isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53: 839-846 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»