Patterns of groundwater bacterial communities along the petroleum hydrocarbon gradient

Abstract

Groundwater contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons has become a worldwide environmental problem. Despite that microorganisms played an important role in biogeochemical processes such as hydrocarbon degradation, comprehensive understanding of the structure, function, and interactions of groundwater bacterial communities in petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated sites is still lacking. Here we investigated the groundwater bacterial communities along a total petroleum hydrocarbon gradient (TPH: 0.01–2.09 mg/L) at an abandoned chemical factory site by sequencing microbial 16 S rRNA gene amplicons. Results showed that hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater reduced the bacterial diversity, and favored the growth of some species, such as members of the β-, γ-Proteobacteria and Planctomycetes. TPH exerted profound selection pressure on the bacterial community, as the variation of community structure along the TPH gradient were significantly correlated with the petroleum hydrocarbon tolerance of the community (r = 0.362; p < 0.001). Other geochemical variables of the groundwater, including pH, sampling depth, oxidation-reduction potential, temperature, and dissolved oxygen, also influenced the community structure. Variations in bacterial community structure thus altered the functional potential, with significantly higher alkane (alkB and alkH) and PAH (nahF and phdK) degradation gene abundances in the relatively high contaminated sampling wells. By conducting the ecological network analysis, we identified a potentially important ecological module relating to petroleum hydrocarbon degradation, which is mainly composed of members of Proteobacteria. This suggested the potential metabolic cross-feeding relationship of Proteobacteria in utilizing petroleum hydrocarbon. These findings illustrate an overall picture of bacterial communities involved in a petroleum hydrocarbon contamination site and provided useful information for groundwater restoration and environmental management.