A thermophilic nitrate-reducing bacterium isolated from production water of a high temperature oil reservoir and its inhibition on sulfate-reducing bacteria

Abstract

A thermophilic spore-forming facultative anaerobic bacterium, designated as Njiang2, was isolated from the production water of a high temperature oil reservoir (87°C). The physiological, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene based phylogenetic analysis indicated that Njiang2 belonged to the genus Anoxybacillus. Njiang2 could significantly inhibit H2S production when co-cultured with Desulfotomaculum sp under laboratory conditions, which implied its great potential in mitigation of brine souring in the oil reservoir and in control of biocorrosion caused by sulfate-reducing bacteria. As far as we know, this might be the first report of Anoxybacillus sp. isolated from high temperature oilfield