Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall
Certain biological particles are highly efficient ice nuclei (IN), but the actual contribution of bioparticles to the pool of atmospheric IN and their relation to precipitation are not well characterized. We investigated the composition of bioaerosols, ice nucleation activity, and the effect of rain...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:715db1af47d943f0bfb1d0caa9d5df54 2023-05-15T16:55:21+02:00 Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall K. Tang B. Sánchez-Parra P. Yordanova J. Wehking A. T. Backes D. A. Pickersgill S. Maier J. Sciare U. Pöschl B. Weber J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 https://doaj.org/article/715db1af47d943f0bfb1d0caa9d5df54 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/71/2022/bg-19-71-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/715db1af47d943f0bfb1d0caa9d5df54 Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 71-91 (2022) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 2022-12-31T15:15:49Z Certain biological particles are highly efficient ice nuclei (IN), but the actual contribution of bioparticles to the pool of atmospheric IN and their relation to precipitation are not well characterized. We investigated the composition of bioaerosols, ice nucleation activity, and the effect of rainfall by metagenomic sequencing and freezing experiments of aerosol samples collected during the INUIT 2016 campaign in a rural dryland on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Taxonomic analysis showed community changes related to rainfall. For the rain-affected samples, we found higher read proportions of fungi, particularly of Agaricomycetes, which are a class of fungi that actively discharge their spores into the atmosphere in response to humidity changes. In contrast, the read proportions of bacteria were reduced, indicating an effective removal of bacteria by precipitation. Freezing experiments showed that the IN population in the investigated samples was influenced by both rainfall and dust events. For example, filtration and heat treatment of the samples collected during and immediately after rainfall yielded enhanced fractions of heat-sensitive IN in the size ranges larger than 5 µ m and smaller than 0.1 µ m, which were likely of biological origin (entire bioparticles and soluble macromolecular bio-IN). In contrast, samples collected in periods with dust events were dominated by heat-resistant IN active at lower temperatures, most likely mineral dust. The DNA analysis revealed low numbers of reads related to microorganisms that are known to be IN-active. This may reflect unknown sources of atmospheric bio-IN as well as the presence of cell-free IN macromolecules that do not contain DNA, in particular for sizes < 0.1 µ m. The observed effects of rainfall on the composition of atmospheric bioaerosols and IN may influence the hydrological cycle (bioprecipitation cycle) as well as the health effects of air particulate matter (pathogens, allergens). Article in Journal/Newspaper inuit Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 19 1 71 91 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 K. Tang B. Sánchez-Parra P. Yordanova J. Wehking A. T. Backes D. A. Pickersgill S. Maier J. Sciare U. Pöschl B. Weber J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Certain biological particles are highly efficient ice nuclei (IN), but the actual contribution of bioparticles to the pool of atmospheric IN and their relation to precipitation are not well characterized. We investigated the composition of bioaerosols, ice nucleation activity, and the effect of rainfall by metagenomic sequencing and freezing experiments of aerosol samples collected during the INUIT 2016 campaign in a rural dryland on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Taxonomic analysis showed community changes related to rainfall. For the rain-affected samples, we found higher read proportions of fungi, particularly of Agaricomycetes, which are a class of fungi that actively discharge their spores into the atmosphere in response to humidity changes. In contrast, the read proportions of bacteria were reduced, indicating an effective removal of bacteria by precipitation. Freezing experiments showed that the IN population in the investigated samples was influenced by both rainfall and dust events. For example, filtration and heat treatment of the samples collected during and immediately after rainfall yielded enhanced fractions of heat-sensitive IN in the size ranges larger than 5 µ m and smaller than 0.1 µ m, which were likely of biological origin (entire bioparticles and soluble macromolecular bio-IN). In contrast, samples collected in periods with dust events were dominated by heat-resistant IN active at lower temperatures, most likely mineral dust. The DNA analysis revealed low numbers of reads related to microorganisms that are known to be IN-active. This may reflect unknown sources of atmospheric bio-IN as well as the presence of cell-free IN macromolecules that do not contain DNA, in particular for sizes < 0.1 µ m. The observed effects of rainfall on the composition of atmospheric bioaerosols and IN may influence the hydrological cycle (bioprecipitation cycle) as well as the health effects of air particulate matter (pathogens, allergens). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
K. Tang B. Sánchez-Parra P. Yordanova J. Wehking A. T. Backes D. A. Pickersgill S. Maier J. Sciare U. Pöschl B. Weber J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky |
author_facet |
K. Tang B. Sánchez-Parra P. Yordanova J. Wehking A. T. Backes D. A. Pickersgill S. Maier J. Sciare U. Pöschl B. Weber J. Fröhlich-Nowoisky |
author_sort |
K. Tang |
title |
Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
title_short |
Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
title_full |
Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
title_fullStr |
Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a Mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
title_sort |
bioaerosols and atmospheric ice nuclei in a mediterranean dryland: community changes related to rainfall |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 https://doaj.org/article/715db1af47d943f0bfb1d0caa9d5df54 |
genre |
inuit |
genre_facet |
inuit |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 71-91 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/71/2022/bg-19-71-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/715db1af47d943f0bfb1d0caa9d5df54 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-71-2022 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
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19 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
71 |
op_container_end_page |
91 |
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1766046352147480576 |