16S rRNA of petroleum contaminated and uncontaminated soils from the Kimberley Region, Australia

The Kimberley region of Western Australia is a National Heritage listed region that is internationally recognized for its environmental and cultural significance. However, petroleum spills have been reported at a number of sites across the region. The region is also characterized as having low soil nutrients, high temperatures and monsoonal rain, all of which may limit its potential for natural biodegradation of petroleum to occur. Therefore, this work evaluated the effect of legacy petroleum hydrocarbons on the indigenous soil microbial community across three sites in the Kimberley region. At each site, soil cores were removed from contaminated and control areas and analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons, soil nutrients, pH and microbial community profiling.