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A Shallow BTEX and MTBE Contaminated Aquifer Supports a Diverse Microbial Community

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Abstract

Microbial communities in subsurface environments are poorly characterized and the impacts of anthropogenic contamination on their structure and function have not been adequately addressed. The release of contaminant(s) to a previously unexposed environment is often hypothesized to decrease the diversity of the affected community. We characterized the structure of microbial communities along a gradient of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) and methyl-tert-butyl-ether (MTBE) contamination, resulting from a petroleum spill, within a shallow sandy aquifer at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in Lompoc, CA. Differences in microbial community composition along the contaminant plume were assessed via a combinatorial approach utilizing denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), cloning and sequencing, intergenic transcribed spacer analysis (ITS), and comparative phylogenetic analysis of partial 16S rDNA sequences. Substantial bacterial sequence diversity, similar levels of species richness, and similar phylo-groups (including the Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroidetes group and numerous members of the α-, β-, γ-, δ-, and ε-groups of the proteobacteria) were observed in both uncontaminated and contaminated regions of the aquifer. High-resolution measures (ITS fingerprinting and phylogenetic inference) readily separated communities impacted by the original petroleum spill (in source zone) from those in other parts of the aquifer and indicated that communities exposed to MTBE only were similar to communities in uncontaminated regions. Collectively, these data suggest that petroleum contamination alters microbial community structure at the species and subspecies level. Further study is required to determine whether these changes have an impact on the functioning of this subsurface ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the NSF Microbial Observatories (NSF-MO MCB-0137210), NIEHS Molecular Structure/Function of Organisms Degrading Contaminants (1R21ES012812-01), NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (2P42 ESO 4699), American Petroleum Institute (API), and the Water Resources Center. Our gratitude goes to Isaac Wood and Ryan Wilson for their help in the field study and sampling procedures procedures and Vicky Bien for her DNA extractions.

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  1. Land, Air, and Water Resources, The University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    K.P. Feris, K. Hristova, B. Gebreyesus, D. Mackay & K.M. Scow

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  1. K.P. Feris
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  2. K. Hristova
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  3. B. Gebreyesus
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  4. D. Mackay
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  5. K.M. Scow
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Feris, K., Hristova, K., Gebreyesus, B. et al. A Shallow BTEX and MTBE Contaminated Aquifer Supports a Diverse Microbial Community. Microb Ecol 48, 589–600 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-004-0001-2

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