{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:19:30Z","timestamp":1791231570859,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Biocorrosion, also known as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), is the deterioration of metals caused by microbial activities that compromise the structural integrity, reliability, and safety of steel infrastructure. To identify the genetic determinants that MIC-causing microorganisms may use to attack steel infrastructure, field samples from natural gas infrastructure with a potential history of MIC were collected, enriched for different MIC categories, and subjected to whole-genome shotgun sequencing for metagenomic analysis. Biofilms were grown on carbon steel coupons or glass slides as attachment substrates to assess differences in microbial community composition and metabolic activities. The highest corrosion activities were observed in enrichments dominated by acid-producing bacteria (APB) and hydrogen-utilizing bacteria. APB enrichments resulted in the highest accumulation of organic acids and a severe decrease in culture fluid pH. A total of 57 metagenome-assembled genomes were recovered from the biofilms, some of which differed between carbon steel coupons and glass slide substrates. The metagenomes contained most of the known genes implicated in MIC and sulfide production, with substantial variation in estimated gene copy numbers among metagenomes and attachment substrates. Overall, comparative analysis of these biofilm metagenomes enriched from natural gas production and processing infrastructure highlights similarities to microbial communities commonly observed in oil production and processing systems and provides an overview of candidate genes that may be used as molecular probes for MIC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1771929","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T06:44:00Z","timestamp":1773125040000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Enrichment and comparative metagenomics of microbes involved in biocorrosion of gas transport or storage steel infrastructure"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jackie","family":"Way","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental and Chemical Research Group, GTI Energy","place":["Des Plaines, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taylor","family":"Sherman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental and Chemical Research Group, GTI Energy","place":["Des Plaines, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scott","family":"Leleika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental and Chemical Research Group, GTI Energy","place":["Des Plaines, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karen","family":"Crippen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental and Chemical Research Group, GTI Energy","place":["Des Plaines, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebekah","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"U.S. Army Corps of Engineers","place":["Champaign, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tekle T.","family":"Fida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental and Chemical Research Group, GTI Energy","place":["Des Plaines, IL, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"566","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.4163","article-title":"KBase: the United States department of energy systems biology knowledgebase","volume":"36","author":"Arkin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Microbial mats: modern and ancient microorganisms in stratified systems","author":"Avidan","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1089\/cmb.2012.0021","article-title":"SPAdes: a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing","volume":"19","author":"Bankevich","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Comput. Biol."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-96703-1","volume-title":"Sulfate-reducing Bacteria and Archaea","author":"Barton","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1016\/j.copbio.2004.05.001","article-title":"Biocorrosion: towards understanding interactions between biofilms and metals","volume":"15","author":"Beech","year":"2004","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5059","DOI":"10.1128\/aem.01251-13","article-title":"Acetate production from oil under sulfate-reducing conditions in bioreactors injected with sulfate and nitrate","volume":"79","author":"Callbeck","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5315","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btac672","article-title":"GTDB-Tk v2: memory friendly classification with the genome taxonomy database","volume":"38","author":"Chaumeil","year":"2022","journal-title":"Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"D723","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkac976","article-title":"The IMG\/M data management and analysis system v.7: content updates and new features","volume":"51","author":"Chen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e02983","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.02983-16","article-title":"Use of acetate, propionate, and butyrate for reduction of nitrate and sulfate and methanogenesis in microcosms and bioreactors simulating an oil reservoir","volume":"83","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1128\/mmbr.00037-15","article-title":"Microbial surface colonization and biofilm development in marine environments","volume":"80","author":"Dang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e70058","DOI":"10.1111\/1758-2229.70058","article-title":"Electrochemical detection of carbon steel corrosion induced by fermentative bacteria from natural gas transmission lines","volume":"16","author":"Davis","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. Microbiol. Rep."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"487","DOI":"10.1080\/08927014.2011.584369","article-title":"Influence of EPS isolated from thermophilic sulphate-reducing bacteria on carbon steel corrosion","volume":"27","author":"Dong","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biofouling"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1226","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.02848-13","article-title":"Corrosion of iron by sulfate-reducing bacteria: new views of an old problem","volume":"80","author":"Enning","year":"2014","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3047","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btw354","article-title":"MultiQC: summarize analysis results for multiple tools and samples in a single report","volume":"32","author":"Ewels","year":"2016","journal-title":"Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref15","volume-title":"AMPP corrosion","author":"Fida","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"131298","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2021.131298","article-title":"Microbial sulfite oxidation coupled to nitrate reduction in makeup water for oil production","volume":"284","author":"Fida","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"981","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2018.00981","article-title":"Synergy of sodium nitroprusside and nitrate in inhibiting the activity of sulfate reducing bacteria in oil-containing bioreactors","volume":"9","author":"Fida","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00414766","article-title":"The internal pH of Clostridium acetobutylicum and its effect on the shift from acid to solvent formation","volume":"143","author":"Gottwald","year":"1985","journal-title":"Arch. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"443","DOI":"10.1002\/mlf2.12044","article-title":"Cytochrome-mediated direct electron uptake from metallic iron by Methanosarcina acetivorans","volume":"1","author":"Holmes","year":"2022","journal-title":"mLife"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4269","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-023-31422-7","article-title":"Corrosion of Q235 carbon steel induced by sulfate-reducing bacteria in groundwater: corrosion behavior, corrosion product, and microbial community structure","volume":"31","author":"Hua","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"D672","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkae909","article-title":"KEGG: biological systems database as a model of the real world","volume":"53","author":"Kanehisa","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.3390\/met9040459","article-title":"Microbiologically influenced corrosion of a pipeline in a petrochemical plant","volume":"9","author":"Khouzani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Meta"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1186\/s12859-020-03585-4","article-title":"ATLAS: a Snakemake workflow for assembly, annotation, and genomic binning of metagenome sequence data","volume":"21","author":"Kieser","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Bioinformatics"},{"key":"ref24","volume-title":"International measures of prevention, application, and economics of corrosion technology study","author":"Koch","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2297","DOI":"10.1099\/ijs.0.63243-0","article-title":"Sulfuricurvum kujiense gen. nov., sp. nov., a facultatively anaerobic, chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacterium isolated from an underground crude-oil storage cavity","volume":"54","author":"Kodama","year":"2004","journal-title":"Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4105","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jafc.6b00642","article-title":"Reaction mechanisms of metals with hydrogen sulfide and thiols in model wine. Part 2: Iron- and copper-catalyzed oxidation","volume":"64","author":"Kreitman","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Agric. Food Chem."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105529","DOI":"10.1016\/j.arabjc.2023.105529","article-title":"Microbiologically influenced corrosion of circulating cooling systems in power plants \u2013 a review","volume":"17","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"Arab. J. Chem."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1016\/j.greenca.2025.02.004","article-title":"Hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria: a promising contributor to environmental sustainability and resource recycling","volume":"3","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"Green Carbon"},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"108641","DOI":"10.1016\/j.corsci.2020.108641","article-title":"Microbially influenced corrosion-any progress?","volume":"170","author":"Little","year":"2020","journal-title":"Corros. Sci."},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e09420","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2022.e09420","article-title":"The role of organic acid metabolites in geo-energy pipeline corrosion in a sulfate reducing bacteria environment","volume":"8","author":"Madirisha","year":"2022","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1007\/s40735-024-00820-w","article-title":"Microbiologically influenced corrosion in stainless steel by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: an overview","volume":"10","author":"Maji","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Bio Tribo Corros."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"573","DOI":"10.1038\/nnano.2011.119","article-title":"Tunable metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowire networks","volume":"6","author":"Malvankar","year":"2011","journal-title":"Nat. Nanotechnol."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1111\/1751-7915.13644","article-title":"Oil field microorganisms cause highly localized corrosion on chemically inhibited carbon steel","volume":"14","author":"Mand","year":"2021","journal-title":"Microbial Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2014.00268","article-title":"The role of acetogens in microbially influenced corrosion of steel","volume":"5","author":"Mand","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"171384","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2024.171384","article-title":"Proposed mechanisms of electron uptake in metal-corroding methanogens and their potential for CO2 bioconversion applications","volume":"923","author":"Mei","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1080\/10408410902809431","article-title":"Bacterial interactions in biofilms","volume":"35","author":"Moons","year":"2009","journal-title":"Crit. Rev. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"555","DOI":"10.1038\/s41587-020-00777-4","article-title":"Improved metagenome binning and assembly using deep variational autoencoders","volume":"39","author":"Nissen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref38","first-page":"1","article-title":"Mitigation of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) and preventive strategies","volume":"3","author":"Omar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Res. Trends Microbiol."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1101\/gr.186072.114","article-title":"CheckM: assessing the quality of microbial genomes recovered from isolates, single cells, and metagenomes","volume":"25","author":"Parks","year":"2015","journal-title":"Genome Res."},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/femsec\/fiy222","article-title":"An acetobacterium strain isolated with metallic iron as electron donor enhances iron corrosion by a similar mechanism as Sporomusa sphaeroides","volume":"95","author":"Philips","year":"2018","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. Ecol."},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1007\/s11274-019-2647-4","article-title":"The role of biofilms in the corrosion of steel in marine environments","volume":"35","author":"Proc\u00f3pio","year":"2019","journal-title":"World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102500","DOI":"10.1016\/j.xcrp.2025.102500","article-title":"The biofilm-metal interface: a hotspot for microbiologically influenced corrosion","volume":"6","author":"Qi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cell Rep. Phys. Sci."},{"key":"ref43","volume-title":"The prokaryotes: prokaryotic physiology and Biochemistry","author":"Rabus","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29991","DOI":"10.1007\/s11356-019-06064-3","article-title":"The corrosion process caused by the activity of the anaerobic sporulated bacterium Clostridium celerecrescens on API XL 52 steel","volume":"26","author":"Ramos Monroy","year":"2019","journal-title":"Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104966","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibiod.2020.104966","article-title":"Diversity of sulfate-reducing prokaryotes in petroleum production water and oil samples","volume":"151","author":"Santos","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. Biodeterior. Biodegrad."},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2208","DOI":"10.1099\/ijs.0.016709-0","article-title":"Desulfovibrio idahonensis sp. nov., sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from a metal(loid)-contaminated freshwater sediment","volume":"59","author":"Sass","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e01664","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.01664-19","article-title":"Effect of quorum sensing on the ability of Desulfovibrio vulgaris to form biofilms and to biocorrode carbon steel in saline conditions","volume":"86","author":"Scarascia","year":"2019","journal-title":"Appl. Environ. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-1097(90)90733-7","article-title":"Methanogenic bacteria as a key factor involved in changes of town gas stored in an underground reservoir","volume":"73","author":"\u0160mig\u00e1\u0148","year":"1990","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol. Let."},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"116555","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2021.116555","article-title":"Functional metagenomic and enrichment metatranscriptomic analysis of marine microbial activities within a marine oil spill area","volume":"274","author":"Song","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1413","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1196526","article-title":"Direct exchange of electrons within aggregates of an evolved syntrophic coculture of anaerobic bacteria","volume":"330","author":"Summers","year":"2010","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.17675\/2305-6894-2020-9-1-1","article-title":"Review on the microbiologically influenced corrosion and the function of biofilms","volume":"9","author":"Telegdi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Inter. J. Corros. Scale Inhibi."},{"key":"ref52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2017.00143","article-title":"Compositions and abundances of sulfate-reducing and sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms in water-flooded petroleum reservoirs with different temperatures in China","volume":"8","author":"Tian","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15149","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-33541-5","article-title":"An extracellular [NiFe] hydrogenase mediating iron corrosion is encoded in a genetically unstable genomic island in Methanococcus maripaludis","volume":"8","author":"Tsurumaru","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6061","DOI":"10.3390\/su15076061","article-title":"Feasibility of efficient, direct, butanol production from food waste without nutrient supplement by Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4","volume":"15","author":"Wang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"705","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-023-00920-3","article-title":"Microbially mediated metal corrosion","volume":"21","author":"Xu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bioelechem.2016.08.001","article-title":"Accelerated corrosion of 2205 duplex stainless steel caused by marine aerobic Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm","volume":"113","author":"Xu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Bioelectrochemistry"},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"707","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biotechadv.2017.12.003","article-title":"Bioconversion of carbon dioxide to methane using hydrogen and hydrogenotrophic methanogens","volume":"36","author":"Zabranska","year":"2018","journal-title":"Biotechnol. Adv."},{"key":"ref58","volume-title":"Google patents US7276358B1","author":"Zhu","year":"2007"},{"key":"ref59","volume-title":"Google patents: US7384770B1","author":"Zhu","year":"2008"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Microbiology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1771929\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T06:44:02Z","timestamp":1773125042000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1771929\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"references-count":59,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1771929"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1771929","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-302X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-302X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"article-number":"1771929"}}