Taylor Nicole M, Toth Courtney R A, Collins Victoria, Mussone Paolo, Gieg Lisa M
Petroleum Microbiology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E5, Canada.
Microorganisms. 2021 Jan 1;9(1):90. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9010090.
The microbial degradation of recalcitrant hydrocarbons is an important process that can contribute to the remediation of oil and gas-contaminated environments. Due to the complex structure of subsurface terrestrial environments, it is important to identify the microbial communities that may be contributing to biodegradation processes, along with their abilities to metabolize different hydrocarbons in situ. In this study, a variety of adsorbent materials were assessed for their ability to trap both hydrocarbons and microorganisms in contaminated groundwater. Of the materials tested, a porous polymer resin (Tenax-TA) recovered the highest diversity of microbial taxa in preliminary experiments and was selected for additional (microcosm-based) testing. Oxic and anoxic experiments were prepared with groundwater collected from a contaminated aquifer to assess the ability of Tenax-TA to adsorb two environmental hydrocarbon contaminants of interest (toluene and benzene) while simultaneously providing a surface for microbial growth and hydrocarbon biodegradation. Microorganisms in oxic microcosms completely degraded both targets within 14 days of incubation, while anoxically-incubated microorganisms metabolized toluene but not benzene in less than 80 days. Community analysis of Tenax-TA-associated microorganisms revealed taxa highly enriched in sessile hydrocarbon-degrading treatments, including , , and , which may facilitate hydrocarbon degradation. This study showed that Tenax-TA can be used as a matrix to effectively trap both microorganisms and hydrocarbons in contaminated environmental systems for assessing and studying hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms of interest.
难降解烃类的微生物降解是一个重要过程，有助于修复受石油和天然气污染的环境。由于地下陆地环境结构复杂，识别可能对生物降解过程有贡献的微生物群落及其原位代谢不同烃类的能力很重要。在本研究中，评估了多种吸附材料在受污染地下水中捕获烃类和微生物的能力。在初步实验中，一种多孔聚合物树脂（Tenax-TA）回收的微生物分类群多样性最高，并被选用于进一步的（基于微观世界的）测试。用从受污染含水层采集的地下水进行有氧和无氧实验，以评估Tenax-TA吸附两种目标环境烃类污染物（甲苯和苯）的能力，同时为微生物生长和烃类生物降解提供一个表面。有氧微观世界中的微生物在培养14天内完全降解了两种目标物，而无氧培养的微生物在不到80天内代谢了甲苯但未代谢苯。对与Tenax-TA相关的微生物进行群落分析，发现了在固着烃降解处理中高度富集的分类群，包括 、 和 ，它们可能促进烃类降解。本研究表明，Tenax-TA可作为一种基质，在受污染的环境系统中有效捕获微生物和烃类，用于评估和研究感兴趣的烃类降解微生物。
