This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
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
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gittel, A.
Right arrow Articles by Schramm, A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gittel, A.
Right arrow Articles by Schramm, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Gittel, A.
Right arrow Articles by Schramm, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 7086-7096, Vol. 75, No. 22
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01123-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Prokaryotic Community Structure and Sulfate Reducer Activity in Water from High-Temperature Oil Reservoirs with and without Nitrate Treatment{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Antje Gittel,1* Ketil Bernt Sørensen,2 Torben Lund Skovhus,2 Kjeld Ingvorsen,1 and Andreas Schramm1

Department of Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark,1 Oil & Gas Group, Chemistry and Water Technology, Danish Technological Institute, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark2

Received 15 May 2009/ Accepted 22 September 2009

Sulfate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP) cause severe problems like microbial corrosion and reservoir souring in seawater-injected oil production systems. One strategy to control SRP activity is the addition of nitrate to the injection water. Production waters from two adjacent, hot (80°C) oil reservoirs, one with and one without nitrate treatment, were compared for prokaryotic community structure and activity of SRP. Bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA gene analyses revealed higher prokaryotic abundance but lower diversity for the nitrate-treated field. The 16S rRNA gene clone libraries from both fields were dominated by sequences affiliated with Firmicutes (Bacteria) and Thermococcales (Archaea). Potential heterotrophic nitrate reducers (Deferribacterales) were exclusively found at the nitrate-treated field, possibly stimulated by nitrate addition. Quantitative PCR of dsrAB genes revealed that archaeal SRP (Archaeoglobus) dominated the SRP communities, but with lower relative abundance at the nitrate-treated site. Bacterial SRP were found in only low abundance at both sites and were nearly exclusively affiliated with thermophilic genera (Desulfacinum and Desulfotomaculum). Despite the high abundance of archaeal SRP, no archaeal SRP activity was detected in [35S]sulfate incubations at 80°C. Sulfate reduction was found at 60°C in samples from the untreated field and accompanied by the growth of thermophilic bacterial SRP in batch cultures. Samples from the nitrate-treated field generally lacked SRP activity. These results indicate that (i) Archaeoglobus can be a major player in hot oil reservoirs, and (ii) nitrate may act in souring control—not only by inhibiting SRP, but also by changing the overall community structure, including the stimulation of competitive nitrate reducers.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Phone: 45 8942-3326. Fax: 45 8942-2722. E-mail: antje.gittel{at}biology.au.dk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 October 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 7086-7096, Vol. 75, No. 22
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01123-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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