Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley
Petroleum pollution has become a substantial challenge in soil ecology. The soil bacterial consortia play a major role in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The main objective of this study was to assess changes in bacterial composition and diversity in oil-contaminated dryland soils. The...
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2025-05-01
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| author | Varsik Martirosyan Ilan Stavi Tirza Doniger Itaii Applebaum Chen Sherman May Levi Yosef Steinberger |
| author_facet | Varsik Martirosyan Ilan Stavi Tirza Doniger Itaii Applebaum Chen Sherman May Levi Yosef Steinberger |
| author_sort | Varsik Martirosyan |
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| description | Petroleum pollution has become a substantial challenge in soil ecology. The soil bacterial consortia play a major role in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The main objective of this study was to assess changes in bacterial composition and diversity in oil-contaminated dryland soils. The Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technique was used to study the bacterial diversity and structural change in hyper-arid oil-contaminated soil in the Arava Valley of Israel. The diversity and abundance of soil bacteria declined significantly following oil pollution. The dominant phyla in the petroleum-contaminated soils were <i>Proteobacteria</i> (~33% higher vs. control soil) and <i>Patescibacteria</i> (~2.5% higher vs. control soil), which are oil-associated and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. An opposite trend was found for the <i>Actinobacteria</i> (~8%), <i>Chloroflexi</i> (12%), <i>Gemmatimonadetes</i> (3%), and <i>Planctomycetes</i> (2%) phyla, with the lower abundances in contaminated soil vs. control soil. Investigation of long-term contaminated sites revealed significant genus-level taxonomic restructuring in soil bacterial communities. The most evident changes were observed in <i>Mycobacterium</i>, <i>Alkanindiges</i>, and <i>uncultured bacterium-145</i>, which showed marked abundance shifts between spill and control soils across decades. Particularly, hydrocarbon-degrading genera such as <i>Pseudoxanthomonas</i> demonstrated persistent dominance in contaminated sites. While some genera (e.g., <i>Frigoribacterium</i>, <i>Leifsonia</i>) declined over time, others—particularly <i>Nocardioides</i> and <i>Streptomyces</i>—exhibited substantial increases by 2014, suggesting potential ecological succession or adaptive selection. Minor but consistent changes were also detected in stress-tolerant genera like <i>Blastococcus</i> and <i>Quadrisphaera</i>. The effect of oil contamination on species diversity was greater at the 1975 site compared to the 2014 site. These patterns highlight the dynamic response of bacterial communities to chronic contamination, with implications for bioremediation and ecosystem recovery. The study results provide new insights into oil contamination-induced changes in soil bacterial community and may assist in designing appropriate biodegradation strategies to alleviate the impacts of oil contamination in drylands. |
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| spelling | doaj-art-8e61b99172b64f5c9ddea8d5e6fff7652025-08-20T03:47:49ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952025-05-01155119810.3390/agronomy15051198Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava ValleyVarsik Martirosyan0Ilan Stavi1Tirza Doniger2Itaii Applebaum3Chen Sherman4May Levi5Yosef Steinberger6C-Lab LLC Testing Laboratory, Artashisyan 105, Yerevan 0038, ArmeniaDead Sea and Arava Science Center, Yotvata 88820, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, IsraelPetroleum pollution has become a substantial challenge in soil ecology. The soil bacterial consortia play a major role in the biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The main objective of this study was to assess changes in bacterial composition and diversity in oil-contaminated dryland soils. The Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technique was used to study the bacterial diversity and structural change in hyper-arid oil-contaminated soil in the Arava Valley of Israel. The diversity and abundance of soil bacteria declined significantly following oil pollution. The dominant phyla in the petroleum-contaminated soils were <i>Proteobacteria</i> (~33% higher vs. control soil) and <i>Patescibacteria</i> (~2.5% higher vs. control soil), which are oil-associated and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. An opposite trend was found for the <i>Actinobacteria</i> (~8%), <i>Chloroflexi</i> (12%), <i>Gemmatimonadetes</i> (3%), and <i>Planctomycetes</i> (2%) phyla, with the lower abundances in contaminated soil vs. control soil. Investigation of long-term contaminated sites revealed significant genus-level taxonomic restructuring in soil bacterial communities. The most evident changes were observed in <i>Mycobacterium</i>, <i>Alkanindiges</i>, and <i>uncultured bacterium-145</i>, which showed marked abundance shifts between spill and control soils across decades. Particularly, hydrocarbon-degrading genera such as <i>Pseudoxanthomonas</i> demonstrated persistent dominance in contaminated sites. While some genera (e.g., <i>Frigoribacterium</i>, <i>Leifsonia</i>) declined over time, others—particularly <i>Nocardioides</i> and <i>Streptomyces</i>—exhibited substantial increases by 2014, suggesting potential ecological succession or adaptive selection. Minor but consistent changes were also detected in stress-tolerant genera like <i>Blastococcus</i> and <i>Quadrisphaera</i>. The effect of oil contamination on species diversity was greater at the 1975 site compared to the 2014 site. These patterns highlight the dynamic response of bacterial communities to chronic contamination, with implications for bioremediation and ecosystem recovery. The study results provide new insights into oil contamination-induced changes in soil bacterial community and may assist in designing appropriate biodegradation strategies to alleviate the impacts of oil contamination in drylands.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1198bacterial communitycrude oilenvironmental contaminationhyper-arid ecosystemnatural bioremediationtotal petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) |
| spellingShingle | Varsik Martirosyan Ilan Stavi Tirza Doniger Itaii Applebaum Chen Sherman May Levi Yosef Steinberger Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley Agronomy bacterial community crude oil environmental contamination hyper-arid ecosystem natural bioremediation total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) |
| title | Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley |
| title_full | Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley |
| title_fullStr | Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley |
| title_short | Bacterial Community Dynamics in Oil-Contaminated Soils in the Hyper-Arid Arava Valley |
| title_sort | bacterial community dynamics in oil contaminated soils in the hyper arid arava valley |
| topic | bacterial community crude oil environmental contamination hyper-arid ecosystem natural bioremediation total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/5/1198 |
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