Airborne bacteria confirm the pristine nature of the Southern Ocean boundary layer.

ABSTRACT: Microorganisms are ubiquitous and highly diverse in the atmosphere. Despite the potential impacts of airborne bacteria found in the lower atmosphere over the Southern Ocean (SO) on the ecology of Antarctica and on marine cloud phase, no previous region-wide assessment of bioaerosols over the SO has been reported. We conducted bacterial profiling of boundary layer shipboard aerosol samples obtained during an Austral summer research voyage, spanning 42.8 to 66.5°S. Contrary to findings over global subtropical regions and the Northern Hemisphere, where transport of microorganisms from continents often controls airborne communities, the great majority of the bacteria detected in our samples were marine, based on taxonomy, back trajectories, and source tracking analysis. Further, the beta diver

SUBMITTER: Uetake J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7306778 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature