title: Activity, distribution, and abundance of methane-oxidizing bacteria in the near surface soils of onshore oil and gas fields.
abstract: Methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) have long been used as an important biological indicator for oil and gas prospecting, but the ecological characteristics of MOB in hydrocarbon microseep systems are still poorly understood. In this study, the activity, distribution, and abundance of aerobic methanotrophic communities in the surface soils underlying an oil and gas field were investigated using biogeochemical and molecular ecological techniques. Measurements of potential methane oxidation rates and pmoA gene copy numbers showed that soils inside an oil and gas field are hot spots of methane oxidation and MOB abundance. Correspondingly, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses in combination with cloning and sequencing of pmoA genes also revealed considerable differences in the methanotrophic community composition between oil and gas fields and the surrounding soils. Principal component analysis ordination furthermore indicated a coincidence between elevated CH4 oxidation activity and the methanotrophic community structure with type I methanotrophic Methylococcus and Methylobacter, in particular, as indicator species of oil and gas fields. Collectively, our results show that trace methane migrated from oil and gas reservoirs can considerably influence not only the quantity but also the structure of the methanotrophic community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science, Zhejiang University, No. 38, Zheda Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China. xukewei8201@gmail.com
authors.forename: Kewei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Kebin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wanmeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yongge
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D044822:Biodiversity; D007700:Kinetics; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields / Q000382:microbiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D008697:Methane