THERMOSPORE: The deep biosphere, microbe dispersal, and novel strategies for geoenergy exploration

THERMOSPORE将开发生物检测方法来量化海洋细菌，为近海石油和天然气勘探提供新的工具。项目合作伙伴包括加拿大埃克森美孚和加拿大地质调查局。微生物经常在不支持其新陈代谢活动的环境中被发现。最近有报道称，大量嗜热(嗜热)细菌不断地以休眠孢子的形式沉积到永久寒冷的北极海洋沉积物中。这些“热孢子”令人惊讶的是，它们的数量很高，而且不断地流入沉积物中，据估计，每年每平方米海床有1亿个孢子。它们肯定来自其他温暖的地方，那里有足够的地理分布和来源强度，可以解释细胞进入海底的高流量。热孢子基因组学提供了一些线索。已知的近亲来自深海海洋生物圈的热点地区。大多数亲属来自深埋在海相沉积物中的深层热油藏。石油储藏层是漏水的，这使得碳氢化合物可以通过上面的沉积物渗入地表。这种流体流动可能会将热孢子从温暖的油层栖息地输送到寒冷的海洋。微生物活动和基因多样性数据将被用来开发敏感的量化程序，这些程序将应用于墨西哥湾和加拿大北极的海洋沉积物，包括埃克森美孚采集的渗漏。人们感兴趣的是热孢子是否能帮助寻找地下石油矿藏。新的生物化验将致力于使用这些细菌绘制碳氢化合物渗漏地区的海底地图。渗漏检测是油气勘探区风险评估的常规部分，因此，热孢子分析可能为加拿大大西洋和加拿大北极近海石油勘探的新技术奠定基础。

THERMOSPORE will develop bioassays to quantify marine bacteria to deliver novel tools for offshore oil and gas exploration. Project partners include ExxonMobil Canada and the Geological Survey of Canada.Microorganisms are often discovered in environments that do not support their metabolic activity. It was recently reported that large numbers of thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria are constantly deposited as dormant spores into permanently cold marine Arctic sediments. What is surprising about these "thermo-spores" is their high numbers and steady influx into the sediment, estimated at 100,000,000 spores annually per square meter of the seabed. They must be coming from a warm place somewhere else that has sufficient geographic distribution and source strength to account for the high flux of cells into the seabed.Thermo-spore genomics offers some clues. Closest known relatives come from hot spots in the deep marine biosphere. Most relatives come from deep hot oil reservoirs buried deeply in marine sediments. Petroleum reservoirs are leaky, allowing hydrocarbons to seep up through overlying sediments to the surface. This fluid flow may transport thermo-spores away from warm oil reservoir habitats up into the cold ocean.Microbial activity and gene diversity data will be used to develop sensitive quantification procedures, which will be applied to marine sediments in the Gulf of Mexico and Canadian Arctic, including seeps sampled by ExxonMobil. Of interest is whether thermo-spores can help locate subsurface petroleum deposits. New bioassays will aim to use these bacteria for seabed mapping in areas of hydrocarbon seepage. Seep detection is a routine part of risk evaluations in oil and gas prospective areas, hence thermo-spore assays could underpin new technology for offshore oil exploration in Atlantic Canada and the Canadian Arctic.