Microbial community analysis using pyrosequencing from water samples of an oil and gas company's Seawater Injection facility
Microbial community analysis using pyrosequencing from water samples of an oil and gas company's Seawater Injection facility
Samples from the oil and gas company’s seawater Injection system (SWIS) were collected and sent with the objective of 16S pyrosequencing. Samples were received on the 28th April, 2010. Six seawater samples were filtered on-site and the filter paper was fixed with particular fixative and dried. Similarly, three seawater samples from crude pipeline were also filtered on-site, filter paper fixed with fixative and dried. Each of the nine fixed filter papers were transferred in a 2 ml Eppendorf tube immersed in 1.5 ml filtrate and sent for 16S pyrosequencing. Samples consisted of both seawater samples as well as seawater samples from crude pipeline. On receiving the samples, the Eppendorf tubes were strongly vortexed to get all the biomass into the solution (seawater filtrate). This was repeated 2-3 times to be sure that all the biomass could be recovered from the fixed filter paper. Next, the tubes were centrifuged at 17,000 x g for 10 minutes. DNA was isolated from the samples and the PCR amplicons obtained were sent for pyrosequencing. All the samples were sequenced (pyrosequencing) and bioinformatically analyzed and a list of microorganisms present (from most to least prevalent) was provided. This research was supported by funding from Genome Canada, Genome Alberta, the Government of Alberta and Genome BC.
Water samples from an oil and gas company’s Seawater Injection System (SWIS) were collected and sent with the objective of 16S pyrosequencing. Knowing the microbial abundance and identification of the water samples in the SWIS will help the company to quantify a baseline for monitoring pipelines and water injection systems. This, in turn, will affect the selection of chemical treatments to control microbial activity.