pH mediated assemblage of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur related microbial communities in petroleum reservoirs

Microorganisms are the core drivers of biogeochemistry processes in petroleum reservoirs and have been widely used to enhance petroleum recovery. However, systematic information about the microbial communities related to the C-N-S cycle in petroleum reservoirs under different pH conditions remains poorly understood. In this study, 16S rRNA gene data from 133 petroleum samples were collected, and 756 C-N-S related genera were detected. The Chao1 richness and Shannon diversity indices for the C-N-S-related microbial communities showed significant differences among different pH conditions and at the lowest levels in acidic conditions with pH values of 4.5–6.5. In addition, pH was the most important factor influencing the C-N-S related microbial communities and contributed to 17.95% of the variation in the methanogenesis community. A total of 55 functional genera were influenced by pH, which accounted for 42.08% of the C-N-S related genera. Among them, the genera Pseudomonas and Arcobacter were the highest and were concentrated in acidic conditions with pH values of 4.5–6.5. In parallel, 56 predicted C-N-S related genes were examined, and pH affected 16 of these genes, including putative chitinase, mcrA, mtrB, cysH, narGHIVYZ, nirK, nirB, nifA, sat, aprAB, and dsrAB. Furthermore, the co-occurrence networks of the C-N-S related microbial communities distinctly varied among the different pH conditions. The acidic environment exhibited the lowest complex network with the lowest keystone taxa number, and Escherichia-Shigella was the only keystone group that existed in all three networks. In summary, this study strengthened our knowledge regarding the C-N-S related microbial communities in petroleum reservoirs under different pH conditions, which is of great significance for understanding the microbial ecology and geochemical cycle of petroleum reservoirs.