ABSTRACT
Traditionally the time needed to quantify sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) in natural and industrial samples, as in the oil and gas industries, takes around 28 days. This delays preventive and corrective actions, increasing the corrosion threat. Molecular methods will allow decisions to be made in a short period of time, as some analyses can be performed in two days at most (Galvão and Lutterbach, 2014). The real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique can be used for the quantification of microorganisms quickly, with high sensitivity; requiring a small amount of genetic material.
To improve the understanding of SRB, our laboratory proposed an approach to study microbial activity. In this context, ribonucleic acid (RNA) data could help answer questions that have arisen in the SRB study. Here, laboratory tests aiming to standardize RNA collection, preservation, packaging and transportation of samples of production water are presented.
