Ecological Shifts and Functional Adaptations of Soil Microbial Communities Under Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contamination
Lei Ren, Jie Zhang, Bao Geng, Jie Zhao, Wenjuan Jia, Li-Rong Lilly Cheng
Abstract
Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination has emerged as a significant global environmental issue, severely impacting soil microbial communities and their functions. This study employed high-throughput sequencing to systematically analyze the bacterial community structure and functional genes in soils with varying levels of petroleum hydrocarbon contamination. The results demonstrated that petroleum contamination led to a significant decline in microbial diversity, while enhancing the abundance of specific functional genes, such as those involved in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation, methane production, and denitrification. Phylogenetic analysis further revealed that microbial communities in highly contaminated soils tended to form highly clustered and specialized groups, while simultaneously promoting the coexistence of phylogenetically distant microorganisms. The Mantel test identified significant correlations between ammonium ion concentration, soil moisture content, and microbial metabolic pathways, particularly those related to petroleum hydrocarbon degradation and denitrification. These findings suggest that petroleum contamination not only disrupts the carbon and nitrogen metabolism balance but also has profound implications for greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen cycling, potentially destabilizing the ecosystem. This study provides novel insights into the ecological functions of microbial communities in petroleum-contaminated soils and highlights potential key factors for pollution management and ecological restoration.