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The seepage of gaseous compounds from underground reservoirs towards the surface causes abnormalities in the population of microbial communities that consume light hydrocarbons on the surface of the reservoir. This microbial population can serve as indicators for determining the location of gas reservoirs prior to drilling operations. In this study, the simulation of methane gas leakage in the sediments of the Persian Gulf was conducted using a laboratory model. The objective of this simulation was to identify the microbial population consuming methane within the sediments of the Persian Gulf, aiding in the exploration of gas reserves. Continuous injection of methane gas into the system was performed for a period of 3 months to enrich the microbial consortia consuming methane. Subsequently, the microbial population was identified using next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. The results indicated that, based on the 16S rRNA sequencing dataset, aerobic methanotrophs, including genera Methylobacter, Methylomarinum, Methylomicrobium, Methylomonas, and Methylophage, were the dominant microbial group on the surface of the sediments. Additionally, anaerobic methane oxidation archaea in sediments were performed by ANME-2 and ANME-3 clades. The findings demonstrate that these microbial communities are capable of coexistence and thrive in long-term exposure to methane in the sediments of the Persian Gulf. Identifying this microbial pattern, alongside other geophysical and geological data, can increase the success rate of gas reservoir exploration.

Groundwater pollution is one of the major environmental concerns. The entrance of pollutants into the oligotrophic groundwater ecosystems alters native microbial community structure and metabolism. This study investigated the application of innovative Small Bioreactor Chambers and CaO2 nanoparticles for phenol removal within continuous-flow sand-packed columns for 6 months. Scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis were conducted to indicate the impact of attached biofilm on sand surfaces in bioremediation columns. Then, the influence of each method on the microbial biodiversity of the column’s groundwater was investigated by next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The results indicated that the simultaneous application of biostimulation and bioaugmentation completely eliminated phenol during the first 42 days. However, 80.2% of phenol remained in the natural bioremediation column at the end of the experiment. Microbial diversity was decreased by CaO2 injection while order-level groups known for phenol degradation such as Rhodobacterales and Xanthomonadales dominated in biostimulation columns. Genome-resolved comparative analyses of oligotrophic groundwater prokaryotic communities revealed that Burkholderiales, Micrococcales, and Cytophagales were the dominant members of the pristine groundwater. Six-month exposure of groundwater to phenol shifted the microbial population towards increasing the heterotrophic members of Desulfobacterales, Pseudomonadales, and Xanthomonadales with the degradation potential of phenol and other hydrocarbons.