Oil contamination drives the transformation of soil microbial communities: Co-occurrence pattern, metabolic enzymes and culturable hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria

The land-based oil extraction activity has led to serious pollution of the soil. While microbes may play an important role in the remediation of contaminated soils, ecological effects of oil pollution on soil microbial relationships remain poorly understood. Here, typical contaminated soils and undisturbed soils from seven oilfields of China were investigated in terms of their physicochemical characteristics, indigenous microbial assemblages, bacterial co-occurrence patterns, and metabolic enzymes. Network visualization based on k -core decomposition illustrated that oil pollution reduced correlations between co-existing bacteria. The core genera were altered to those related with oil metabolism ( Pseudarthrobacter , Alcanivorax , Sphingomonas , Chromohalobacter and Nocardioides ). Under oil pollution pressure, the indigenous bacteria Gammaproteobacteria was domesticated as biomarker and the enzyme expression associated with the metabolism of toxic benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was enhanced. Functional pathways of xenobiotics biodegradation were also stimulated under oil contamination. Finally, twelve culturable hydrocarbon-degrading microbes were isolated from these polluted soils and classified into Stenotrophomonas , Delftia , Pseudomonas and Bacillus . These results show that the soil microbial communities are transformed under oil pollution stress, and also provide useful information for future bioremediation processes. • Ecological effects of soil oil contamination were revealed. • Oil-affected microbial communities were enriched with Gammaproteobacteria . • Petroleum contamination altered the soil bacterial co-occurrence pattern. • Oil stress stimulated the expression of BTEX and PAH-related metabolic enzymes. • Twelve hydrocarbon-degrading strains were isolated from oil-polluted soils.