Which Microbial Communities Are Present? Application of Clone Libraries: Syntrophic Acetate Degradation to Methane in a High-Temperature Petroleum Reservoir – Culture-Based and 16S rRNA Genes Characterisation

The presence of microorganisms in petroleum reservoirs has been established about 100 years ago. Microbiological, radioisotope, molecular biological and biogeochemical techniques have been used to investigate microbial diversity and activity in the oilfields. These techniques were applied separately and the composition of the microbial community and its geochemical activity remained poorly understood.