Characteristics of the Archaeal Communities in Petroleum Hydrocarbon- Contaminated Groundwater

摘要

Microorganisms play a major role in the natural attenuation of pollutants in groundwater, such as petroleum hydrocarbons. However, there are few studies on the structure and diversity of archaeal bacterial communities in extreme environments formed by petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater. In this study, archaeal community composition of five petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater wells located at an abandoned chemical factory representing low (0.00 +/- 0.01 mg/L), mild (0.59 +/- 0.02 mg/L), and high (2.05 +/- 0.72 mg/L) concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) was investigated by sequencing microbial 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The results showed that Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota were the main archaeal groups in TPH-contaminated groundwater, which composed 99% of the community abundance. TPH was found to be the dominant factor affecting the diversity and abundance of archaeal communities in high-contaminated wells. Total phosphorus, NO3--N, and pH greatly influenced the archaeal communities in mild-contaminated wells, while low-contaminated wells were mainly influenced by temperature. Our results provided insights into the archaeal community composition of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater.