Evidence for a missing source of efficient ice nuclei

It has been known for several decades that some bioaerosols, such as ice-nucleation-active (INA) bacteria, especially Pseudomonas syringae strains, may play a critical potential role in the formation of clouds and precipitation. We investigated bacterial and fungal ice nuclei (IN) in rainwater samples collected from the Hulunber temperate grasslands in North China. The median freezing temperatures (T(50)) for three years’ worth of unprocessed rain samples were greater than −10 °C based on immersion freezing testing. The heat and filtration treatments inactivated 7–54% and 2–89%, respectively, of the IN activity at temperatures warmer than −10 °C. We also determined the composition of the microbial community. The majority of observed Pseudomonas strains were distantly related to the verified ice-nucleating Pseudomonas strains, as revealed by phylogenetic analysis. Here, we show that there are submicron INA particles <220 nm in rainwater that are not identifiable as the known species of high-INA bacteria and fungi and there may be a new potential type of efficient submicroscale or nanoscale ice nucleator in the regional rainwater samplers. Our results suggest the need for a reinterpretation of the source of high-INA material in the formation of precipitation and contribute to the search for new methods of weather modification.