Petroleum pollution changes microbial diversity and network complexity of soil profile in an oil refinery

Abstract

IntroductionPetroleum pollution resulting from spills and leakages in oil refinery areas has been a significant environmental concern for decades. Despite this, the effects of petroleum pollutants on soil microbial communities and their potential for pollutant biodegradation still required further investigation.MethodsIn this study, we collected 75 soil samples from 0 to 5 m depths of 15 soil profiles in an abandoned refinery to analyze the effect of petroleum pollution on soil microbial diversity, community structure, and network co-occurrence patterns.ResultsOur results suggested soil microbial a-diversity decreased under high C10–C40 levels, coupled with significant changes in the community structure of soil profiles. However, soil microbial network complexity increased with petroleum pollution levels, suggesting more complex microbial potential interactions. A module specific for methane and methyl oxidation was also found under high C10–C40 levels of the soil profile, indicating stronger methanotrophic and methylotrophic metabolic activities at the heavily polluted soil profile.DiscussionThe increased network complexity observed may be due to more metabolic pathways and processes, as well as increased microbial interactions during these processes. These findings highlight the importance of considering both microbial diversity and network complexity in assessing the effects of petroleum pollution on soil ecosystems.

Research on Microbial Community Structure in Different Blocks of Alkaline–Surfactant–Polymer Flooding to Confirm Optimal Stage of Indigenous Microbial Flooding

“…In this study, we applied a correlation-based network analysis to investigate the co-occurrence models of the bacterial communities in the WF and ASP blocks. Previous studies have shown that microbial interactions can maintain ecosystem function and stability [33,34]. Our results indicated that, compared to the WF blocks, fewer connections, lower clustering coefficients, and network density were observed in the co-occurrence network of the ASP blocks.…”

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“…Globally, crude oil consumption remains paramount (>31%; [ 3 ]) among other energy sources such as natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity and renewable sources. The pollution of ecosystems by crude oil and its products is an expected outcome of the exponential growth in industrial activities over the last century [ 4 , 5 ]. Due in part to inefficient or flawed extraction methods, transportation accidents, and processing errors, hydrocarbon pollutants have found their way into various environmental matrices [ 4 ].…”

Structure and Assembly Mechanism of Archaeal Communities in Deep Soil Contaminated by Chlorinated Hydrocarbons

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“…The structure and function of microbial communities are shaped by interactions between microorganisms [17]. In the past, candidate species for bioremediation were selected based on significant differences in abundance between polluted and unpolluted environments [8,11,18]. However, in attempting to use these bacterial strains for remediation, the desired results are often not obtained.…”

“…This is because remediation functions are not solely carried out by individual species but rather by a community of interacting organisms that collectively contribute to the functions. Zhuang et al reported that soil microbial network complexity increased with petroleum pollution levels [8]. Liu et al reported that the species composition of each ecological cluster was distinct and that the importance of environmental factors varied greatly from module to module under arsenic pollution [18].…”