Aromatic amino acid metabolism and active transport regulation are implicated in microbial persistence in fractured shale reservoirs.

Hydraulic fracturing has unlocked vast amounts of hydrocarbons trapped within unconventional shale formations. This large-scale engineering approach inadvertently introduces microorganisms into the hydrocarbon reservoir, allowing them to inhabit a new physical space and thrive in the unique biogeochemical resources present in the environment. Advancing our fundamental understanding of microbial growth and physiology in this extreme subsurface environment is critical to improving biofouling control efficacy and maximizing opportunities for beneficial natural resource exploitation.

Changes in environmental and engineered conditions alter the plasma membrane lipidome of fractured shale bacteria.

Microorganisms inadvertently introduced into the shale reservoir during fracturing face multiple stressors including brine-level salinities and starvation. However, some anaerobic halotolerant bacteria adapt and persist for long periods of time. They produce hydrogen sulfide, which sours the reservoir and corrodes engineering infrastructure.

Salinity and hydraulic retention time induce membrane phospholipid acyl chain remodeling in WG10 and mixed cultures from hydraulically fractured shale wells.

Bacteria remodel their plasma membrane lipidome to maintain key biophysical attributes in response to ecological disturbances. For and other anaerobic halotolerant taxa that persist in hydraulically fractured deep subsurface shale reservoirs, salinity, and hydraulic retention time (HRT) are important perturbants of cell membrane structure, yet their effects remain poorly understood. Membrane-linked activities underlie microbial growth kinetics and physiologies which drive biogeochemical reactions in engineered subsurface systems.

Bacteria Associated With a Commercial Mycorrhizal Inoculum: Community Composition and Multifunctional Activity as Assessed by Illumina Sequencing and Culture-Dependent Tools.

The implementation of sustainable agriculture encompasses practices enhancing the activity of beneficial soil microorganisms, able to modulate biogeochemical soil cycles and to affect soil fertility. Among them, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establish symbioses with the roots of most food crops and play a key role in nutrient uptake and plant protection from biotic and abiotic stresses. Such beneficial services, encompassing improved crop performances, and soil resources availability, are the outcome of the synergistic action of AMF and the vast communities of mycorrhizospheric bacteria living strictly associated with their mycelium and spores, most of which showing plant growth promoting (PGP) activities, such as the ability to solubilize phosphate and produce siderophores and indole acetic acid (IAA).