Oil leakage induces changes in microbiomes of deep-sea sediments of Campos Basin (Brazil)

Abstract

The Campos Basin (100,000 km²) is located on the continental shelf of southeastern Brazil. Despite the significant oil and gas industrial activities underway in the Campos Basin, scarce information is available regarding the hydrocarbon contents and microbial communities in the deep-sea sediments. To gain new insights on these aspects, we first obtained deep-sea sediment samples with different degrees of oil exposure. We obtained samples from a seabed fissure (N = 28), surroundings (250 m to 500 m from the fissure; N = 24), and a control area (N = 4). We used shotgun metagenomics to characterize the taxonomic and metabolic diversity and analyzed biogeochemical parameters (metal and oil concentration) of all samples. The high levels of unresolved complex mixture of hydrocarbons in the fissure indicate a potentially recent petrogenic contribution in these sediments. The fissure area was found to have a higher abundance of hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial genera and hydrocarbon degradation genes. These bacteria may be used as biosensors of sediment contamination. The effects of oil contamination, mainly around the fissure, are less clear at 250 m and 500 m, suggesting that the surroundings may not have been heavily affected by the oil leakage. Our study demonstrates that metagenomics can disclose biosensors for environmental monitoring.

Keywords: Campos basin; Marine sediments; Metagenomics; Microbial diversity; Oil biodegradation.