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Microbial community dynamics in Baolige oilfield during MEOR treatment, revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

This study was carried out to understand microbial diversity and function in the microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) process and to assess the impact of MEOR treatment on the microbial community in an oil reservoir. The Illumina MiSeq-based method was used to investigate the structure and dynamics of the microbial community in a MEOR-treated block of the Baolige oilfield, China. The results showed that microbial diversity was high and that 23 phyla occurred in the analyzed samples. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Thermotogae, and Euryarchaeota were present in relatively high abundance in all analyzed samples. Injection of bacteria and nutrients resulted in interesting changes in the composition of the microbial community. During MEOR treatment, the community was dominated by the known hydrocarbon-utilizing genera Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter. After the treatment, the two genera decreased in abundance over time while Methanobacteriaceae, as well as known syntrophic genera such as Syntrophomonas, Pelotomaculum, Desulfotomaculum, and Thermacetogenium gradually increased. The change in dominant microbial populations indicated the presence of a succession of microbial communities over time, and the hydrocarbon degradation and syntrophic oxidation of acetate and propionate to methane in the MEOR-treated oilfield. This work contributes to a better understanding of microbial processes in oil reservoirs and helps to optimize MEOR technology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by grants from Huabei Oilfield Ltd. (Grant No. 2014E-3507) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170116).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Petroleum Production Engineering Institute of Huabei Oilfield Ltd, Renqiu, 062552, China

    Jing You, Gang Wu & Fuping Ren

  2. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Qi Chang, Bo Yu & Yanfen Xue

  3. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Jing You & Bozhong Mu

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  1. Jing You
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  2. Gang Wu
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  7. Bozhong Mu
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Correspondence to Bo Yu or Bozhong Mu.

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You, J., Wu, G., Ren, F. et al. Microbial community dynamics in Baolige oilfield during MEOR treatment, revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 1469–1478 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7073-4

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