Wildland fire as an atmospheric source of viable microbial aerosols and biological ice nucleating particles.

ABSTRACT: The environmental sources of microbial aerosols and processes by which they are emitted into the atmosphere are not well characterized. In this study we analyzed microbial cells and biological ice nucleating particles (INPs) in smoke emitted from eight prescribed wildland fires in North Florida. When compared to air sampled prior to ignition, samples of the air-smoke mixtures contained fivefold higher concentrations of microbial cells (6.7 ± 1.3 × 10⁴ cells m^-3) and biological INPs (2.4 ± 0.91 × 10³ INPs m^-3 active at temperatures ≥ -15 °C), and these data significantly positively correlated with PM₁₀. Various bacteria could be cultured from the smoke samples, and the nearest neighbors of many of the isolates are plant epi- and endophy

SUBMITTER: Moore RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8027831 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature