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Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard

Atmospheric dispersal of bacteria is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor influencing bacterial community biodiversity, biogeography and bacteria–human interactions, including those linked to human health. However, knowledge about patterns in microbial aerobiology is still relatively sca...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cuthbertson, Lewis, Amores-Arrocha, Herminia, Malard, Lucie A., Els, Nora, Sattler, Birgit, Pearce, David A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485476/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28481257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology6020029
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author Cuthbertson, Lewis
Amores-Arrocha, Herminia
Malard, Lucie A.
Els, Nora
Sattler, Birgit
Pearce, David A.
author_facet Cuthbertson, Lewis
Amores-Arrocha, Herminia
Malard, Lucie A.
Els, Nora
Sattler, Birgit
Pearce, David A.
author_sort Cuthbertson, Lewis
collection PubMed
description Atmospheric dispersal of bacteria is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor influencing bacterial community biodiversity, biogeography and bacteria–human interactions, including those linked to human health. However, knowledge about patterns in microbial aerobiology is still relatively scarce, and this can be attributed, in part, to a lack of consensus on appropriate sampling and analytical methodology. In this study, three different methods were used to investigate aerial biodiversity over Svalbard: impaction, membrane filtration and drop plates. Sites around Svalbard were selected due to their relatively remote location, low human population, geographical location with respect to air movement and the tradition and history of scientific investigation on the archipelago, ensuring the presence of existing research infrastructure. The aerial bacterial biodiversity found was similar to that described in other aerobiological studies from both polar and non-polar environments, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes being the predominant groups. Twelve different phyla were detected in the air collected above Svalbard, although the diversity was considerably lower than in urban environments elsewhere. However, only 58 of 196 bacterial genera detected were consistently present, suggesting potentially higher levels of heterogeneity. Viable bacteria were present at all sampling locations, showing that living bacteria are ubiquitous in the air around Svalbard. Sampling location influenced the results obtained, as did sampling method. Specifically, impaction with a Sartorius MD8 produced a significantly higher number of viable colony forming units (CFUs) than drop plates alone.
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spelling pubmed-54854762017-06-29 Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard Cuthbertson, Lewis Amores-Arrocha, Herminia Malard, Lucie A. Els, Nora Sattler, Birgit Pearce, David A. Biology (Basel) Article Atmospheric dispersal of bacteria is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor influencing bacterial community biodiversity, biogeography and bacteria–human interactions, including those linked to human health. However, knowledge about patterns in microbial aerobiology is still relatively scarce, and this can be attributed, in part, to a lack of consensus on appropriate sampling and analytical methodology. In this study, three different methods were used to investigate aerial biodiversity over Svalbard: impaction, membrane filtration and drop plates. Sites around Svalbard were selected due to their relatively remote location, low human population, geographical location with respect to air movement and the tradition and history of scientific investigation on the archipelago, ensuring the presence of existing research infrastructure. The aerial bacterial biodiversity found was similar to that described in other aerobiological studies from both polar and non-polar environments, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes being the predominant groups. Twelve different phyla were detected in the air collected above Svalbard, although the diversity was considerably lower than in urban environments elsewhere. However, only 58 of 196 bacterial genera detected were consistently present, suggesting potentially higher levels of heterogeneity. Viable bacteria were present at all sampling locations, showing that living bacteria are ubiquitous in the air around Svalbard. Sampling location influenced the results obtained, as did sampling method. Specifically, impaction with a Sartorius MD8 produced a significantly higher number of viable colony forming units (CFUs) than drop plates alone. MDPI 2017-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5485476/ /pubmed/28481257 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology6020029 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Cuthbertson, Lewis
Amores-Arrocha, Herminia
Malard, Lucie A.
Els, Nora
Sattler, Birgit
Pearce, David A.
Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title_full Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title_fullStr Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title_full_unstemmed Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title_short Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard
title_sort characterisation of arctic bacterial communities in the air above svalbard
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485476/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28481257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology6020029
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