Raw and meta data for 16S ecogenomics of a hydrocarbon containmated site

Petroleum contaminants are exposed to weathering when released into environment, resulting in the alteration of their chemical composition. Here, we investigated microbial communities through the soil profile at an industrial site, which was exposed to various petroleum products for over 50 years. The petroleum is present as light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) and is un-dergoing natural source zone depletion (NSZD). Microbial community composition was com-pared to the contaminant type, concentration, and its depth of obtained soil cores. A large population of Archaea, particularly Methanomicrobia and Methanobacteria and indication of complex syntrophic relationships of methanogens, methanotrophs and bacteria were found in the con-taminated cores. Different families were enriched across the LNAPL types. Results indicate methanogenic or anoxic conditions in the deeper and highly contaminated sections of the soil cores investigated. The contaminant was highly weathered, likely resulting in the formation of recal-citrant polar compounds. This research provides insight into the microorganisms fundamentally associated with LNAPL, throughout a soil depth profile above and below the water table, un-dergoing NSZD processes at a legacy petroleum site. It advances the potential for integration of microbial community effects on bioremediation and in response to physicochemical partitioning of LNAPL components from different petroleum types.

石油污染物释放进入环境后会遭受风化作用，进而导致其化学成分发生改变。本研究针对一处暴露于各类石油产品长达50余年的工业场地，对其土壤剖面中的微生物群落展开了研究。该场地的石油以轻质非水相液体（light non-aqueous phase liquid, LNAPL）形式存在，且正经历自然源区衰减（natural source zone depletion, NSZD）过程。研究中将微生物群落组成与获取的土壤岩芯中的污染物类型、浓度及埋藏深度进行了对比分析。受污染的土壤岩芯中检出了大量古菌（Archaea），尤其是甲烷微菌纲（Methanomicrobia）和甲烷杆菌纲（Methanobacteria），同时发现产甲烷菌（methanogens）、甲烷氧化菌（methanotrophs）与细菌之间存在复杂互营关系的相关证据。不同微生物科类群在不同类型的LNAPL中得到了显著富集。研究结果表明，在所分析的土壤岩芯的深层及高污染区域，存在产甲烷环境或缺氧环境。该污染物已发生高度风化，进而可能形成难降解的极性化合物。本研究针对一处正在经历NSZD过程的遗留石油污染场地，系统解析了地下水位上下完整土壤深度剖面内与LNAPL直接相关的核心微生物类群，为相关领域提供了全新的研究视角。该研究为整合微生物群落对生物修复的影响，以及解析不同石油类型来源的LNAPL组分的物理化学分配过程的相关研究提供了重要的推进方向。