University of Windsor - Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada.
University of Windsor - Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada.
Water Res. 2018 Jun 1;136:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.02.039. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
Baseline biogeochemical surveys of natural environments is an often overlooked field of environmental studies. Too often research begins once contamination has occurred, with a knowledge gap as to how the affected area behaved prior to outside (often anthropogenic) influences. These baseline characterizations can provide insight into proposed bioremediation strategies crucial in cleaning up chemical spill sites or heavily mined regions. Hence, this study was conducted to survey the in-situ microbial activity within freshwater hydrocarbon-rich environments cutting through the McMurray formation - the geologic strata constituting the oil sands. We are the first to report in-situ functional variations among these freshwater microbial ecosystems using metatranscriptomics, providing insight into the in-situ gene expression within these naturally hydrocarbon-rich sites. Key genes involved in energy metabolism (nitrogen, sulfur and methane) and hydrocarbon degradation, including transcripts relating to the observed expression of methane oxidation are reported. This information provides better linkages between hydrocarbon impacted environments, closing knowledge gaps for optimizing not only oil sands mine reclamation but also enhancing microbial reclamation strategies in various freshwater environments. These finding can also be applied to existing contaminated environments, in need of efficient reclamation efforts.
对自然环境进行基线生物地球化学调查是环境研究中一个经常被忽视的领域。研究往往是在污染发生后才开始进行，对于受影响区域在受到外部（通常是人为的）影响之前的行为知之甚少。这些基线特征可以深入了解拟议的生物修复策略，这些策略对于清理化学泄漏现场或重度开采地区至关重要。因此，本研究旨在调查穿过麦克默里组（构成油砂的地质地层）的富碳淡水环境中的原位微生物活性。我们首次使用宏转录组学报告了这些淡水微生物生态系统中的原位功能变化，深入了解了这些天然富碳地点的原位基因表达。报告了涉及能量代谢（氮、硫和甲烷）和碳氢化合物降解的关键基因，包括与观察到的甲烷氧化表达相关的转录本。这些信息提供了碳氢化合物污染环境之间更好的联系，填补了优化不仅油砂矿复垦而且增强各种淡水环境中微生物复垦策略的知识空白。这些发现也可以应用于需要有效复垦的现有污染环境。
