Bioreactor studies predict whole microbial population dynamics in oil sands tailings ponds.

Microorganisms in oil sands fluid fine tailings (FFT) are critical to biogeochemical elemental cycling as well as to the degradation of residual hydrocarbon constituents and subsequent methane and CO2 production. Microbial activity enhances particulate matter sedimentation rates and the dewatering of FFT materials, allowing water to be recycled back into bitumen extraction. A bulk of this evidence comes from bioreactor studies and has implications for engineering and environmental management of the FFT ponds. Yet, it is largely uncertain whether such laboratory populations are representative of whole field scale microbial communities. By using population ecology tools, we compared whole microbial communities present in FFT bioreactors to reference populations existing in Syncrude's West In Pit (WIP) tailings pond. Bacteria were found to be persistent in a sulfidic zone in both the oxic and anoxic bioreactors at all occasions tested. In contrast to the WIP, archaea only became predominant in bioreactors after 300 days, at which point analysis of similarity (global R statistic p<0.5) revealed no significant dissimilarities between the populations present in either system. A whole community succession pattern from bacterial dominated prevalence to a new assemblage predominated by archaea was suggested. These results have implications for the stepwise development of microbial model systems for predictive management of field scale FFT basins.

Microbial communities involved in methane production from hydrocarbons in oil sands tailings.

Microbial metabolism of residual hydrocarbons, primarily short-chain n-alkanes and certain monoaromatic hydrocarbons, in oil sands tailings ponds produces large volumes of CH(4) in situ. We characterized the microbial communities involved in methanogenic biodegradation of whole naphtha (a bitumen extraction solvent) and its short-chain n-alkane (C(6)-C(10)) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) components using primary enrichment cultures derived from oil sands tailings. Clone libraries of bacterial 16S rRNA genes amplified from these enrichments showed increased proportions of two orders of Bacteria: Clostridiales and Syntrophobacterales, with Desulfotomaculum and Syntrophus/Smithella as the closest named relatives, respectively. In parallel archaeal clone libraries, sequences affiliated with cultivated acetoclastic methanogens (Methanosaetaceae) were enriched in cultures amended with n-alkanes, whereas hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Methanomicrobiales) were enriched with BTEX. Naphtha-amended cultures harbored a blend of these two archaeal communities. The results imply syntrophic oxidation of hydrocarbons in oil sands tailings, with the activities of different carbon flow pathways to CH(4) being influenced by the primary hydrocarbon substrate. These results have implications for predicting greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands tailings repositories.

Linking Human Betaretrovirus with Autoimmunity and Liver Disease in Patients with Primary Biliary Cholangitis.

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune liver disease characterized by the production of diagnostic antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) reactive to the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. A human betaretrovirus (HBRV) resembling mouse mammary tumor virus has been characterized in patients with PBC. However, linking the viral infection with the disease is not a straight-forward process because PBC is a complex multifactorial disease influenced by genetic, hormonal, autoimmune, environmental, and other factors. Currently, PBC is assumed to have an autoimmune etiology, but the evidence is lacking to support this conjecture. In this review, we describe different approaches connecting HBRV with PBC. Initially, we used co-cultivation of HBRV with biliary epithelial cells to trigger the PBC-specific phenotype with cell surface expression of cryptic mitochondrial autoantigens linked with antimitochondrial antibody expression. Subsequently, we have derived layers of proof to support the role of betaretrovirus infection in mouse models of autoimmune biliary disease with spontaneous AMA production and in patients with PBC. Using Hill's criteria, we provide an overview of how betaretrovirus infection may trigger autoimmunity and propagate biliary disease. Ultimately, the demonstration that disease can be cured with antiviral therapy may sway the argument toward an infectious disease etiology in an analogous fashion that was used to link H. pylori with peptic ulcer disease.

Anaerobic biodegradation of longer-chain n-alkanes coupled to methane production in oil sands tailings.

Extraction of bitumen from mined oil sands ores produces enormous volumes of tailings that are stored in settling basins (current inventory ≥ 840 million m(3)). Our previous studies revealed that certain hydrocarbons (short-chain n-alkanes [C(6)-C(10)] and monoaromatics [toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene]) in residual naphtha entrained in the tailings are biodegraded to CH(4) by a consortium of microorganisms. Here we show that higher molecular weight n-alkanes (C(14), C(16), and C(18)) are also degraded under methanogenic conditions in oil sands tailings, albeit after a lengthy lag (~180 d) before the onset of methanogenesis. Gas chromatographic analyses showed that the longer-chain n-alkanes each added at ~400 mg L(-1) were completely degraded by the resident microorganisms within ~440 d at ~20 °C. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of clone libraries implied that the predominant pathway of longer-chain n-alkane metabolism in tailings is through syntrophic oxidation of n-alkanes coupled with CO(2) reduction to CH(4). These studies demonstrating methanogenic biodegradation of longer-chain n-alkanes by microbes native to oil sands tailings may be important for effective management of tailings and greenhouse gas emissions from tailings ponds.

Mature fine tailings from oil sands processing harbour diverse methanogenic communities.

Processing oil sands to extract bitumen produces large volumes of a tailings slurry comprising water, silt, clays, unrecovered bitumen, and residual solvent used in the extraction process. Tailings are deposited into large settling basins, where the solids settle by gravity to become denser mature fine tailings (MFT). A substantial flux of methane, currently estimated at ~40 million L/day, is being emitted from the Mildred Lake Settling Basin. To better understand the biogenesis of this greenhouse gas, the methanogenic consortia in MFT samples from depth profiles in 2 tailings deposits (Mildred Lake Settling Basin and West In-Pit) were analyzed by constructing clone libraries of amplified archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA genes. The archaeal sequences, whose closest matches were almost exclusively cultivated methanogens, were comparable within and between basins and were predominantly (87% of clones) affiliated with acetoclastic Methanosaeta spp. In contrast, bacterial clone libraries were unexpectedly diverse, with the majority (~55%) of sequences related to Proteobacteria, including some presumptive nitrate-, iron-, or sulfate-reducing, hydrocarbon-degrading genera (e.g., Thauera, Rhodoferax, and Desulfatibacillum). Thus, MFT harbour a diverse community of prokaryotes presumptively responsible for producing methane from substrates indigenous to the MFT. These findings contribute to our understanding of biogenic methane production and densification of MFT in oil sands tailings deposits.

Methanotrophic bacteria in oilsands tailings ponds of northern Alberta.

We investigated methanotrophic bacteria in slightly alkaline surface water (pH 7.4-8.7) of oilsands tailings ponds in Fort McMurray, Canada. These large lakes (up to 10 km(2)) contain water, silt, clay and residual hydrocarbons that are not recovered in oilsands mining. They are primarily anoxic and produce methane but have an aerobic surface layer. Aerobic methane oxidation was measured in the surface water at rates up to 152 nmol CH4 ml(-1) water d(-1). Microbial diversity was investigated via pyrotag sequencing of amplified 16S rRNA genes, as well as by analysis of methanotroph-specific pmoA genes using both pyrosequencing and microarray analysis. The predominantly detected methanotroph in surface waters at all sampling times was an uncultured species related to the gammaproteobacterial genus Methylocaldum, although a few other methanotrophs were also detected, including Methylomonas spp. Active species were identified via (13)CH4 stable isotope probing (SIP) of DNA, combined with pyrotag sequencing and shotgun metagenomic sequencing of heavy (13)C-DNA. The SIP-PCR results demonstrated that the Methylocaldum and Methylomonas spp. actively consumed methane in fresh tailings pond water. Metagenomic analysis of DNA from the heavy SIP fraction verified the PCR-based results and identified additional pmoA genes not detected via PCR. The metagenome indicated that the overall methylotrophic community possessed known pathways for formaldehyde oxidation, carbon fixation and detoxification of nitrogenous compounds but appeared to possess only particulate methane monooxygenase not soluble methane monooxygenase.