Ammonium removal from high-salinity oilfield-produced water: assessing the microbial community dynamics at increasing salt concentrations.
Water generated during oil exploration is chemically complex and contains high concentrations of ammonium and, in some cases, high salinity. The most common way to remove ammonium from effluent is a biological process, which can be performed by different routes and different groups of microorganisms. However, the presence of salts in the effluents could be an inhibiting factor for biological processes, interfering directly with treatment. This study aimed to evaluate changes in the profile of a microbial community involved in the process of ammonium removal when subjected to a gradual increase of salt (NaCl), in which the complete inhibition of the ammonium removal process occurred at 125 g L-1NaCl. During the sludge acclimatization process, samples were collected and submitted to denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and massive sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. As the salt concentration increased in the reactor, a change in the microbial community was observed by the DGGE band profiles. As a result, there was a reduction in the presence of bacterial populations, and an increase in archaeal populations was found. The sequencing data suggested that ammonium removal in the reactor was carried out by different metabolic routes by autotrophic nitrifying bacteria, such as Nitrosococcus, Nitrosomonas, Nitrosovibrio, Nitrospira, and Nitrococcus; ammonium-oxidizing archaea Candidatus nitrosoarchaeum; ANAMMOX microorganisms, such as Candidatus brocadia, Candidatus kuenenia, and Candidatus scalindua; and microorganisms with the potential to be heterotrophic nitrifying, such as Paracoccus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., Marinobacter sp., and Alcaligenes spp.
Department of Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. larissaquartaroli@yahoo.com.br.
Larissa
L
Quartaroli
Department of Microbiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. livia.silva@ufv.br.
Lívia C Fidélis
LC
Silva
Department of Forest Engineering, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Claudio Mudadu
CM
Silva
Department of Microbiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Helena Santiago
HS
Lima
Department of General Biology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Sergio Oliveira
SO
de Paula
Microbial Resources Division, Research Center for Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture (CPQBA), Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Valéria Maia
VM
de Oliveira
Department of Microbiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Marliane
M
de Cássia S da Silva
Department of Microbiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Maria Catarina M
MC
Kasuya
Petrobras R&D Center (CENPES), Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Maíra Paula
MP
de Sousa
Petrobras R&D Center (CENPES), Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Ana Paula R
AP
Torres
Petrobras R&D Center (CENPES), Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Rodrigo Suhett
RS
Souza
Chemical Engineering Program - COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
João Paulo
JP
Bassin
Department of Microbiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. ccanedo@ufv.br.|Laboratório de Genética Molecular de Bactérias, Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, MG, 36570-900, Brazil. ccanedo@ufv.br.
Cynthia Canêdo
CC
da Silva
D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D058448:Biota; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D054712:Salinity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014871:Water Microbiology
D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014867:Water; D012965:Sodium Chloride
16S rRNA gene survey; Heterotrophic nitrification; Microbial diversity; Nitrification