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Microbial ecology of the atmosphere

The atmosphere connects habitats across multiple spatial scales via airborne dispersal of microbial cells, propagules and biomolecules. Atmospheric microorganisms have been implicated in a variety of biochemical and biophysical transformations. Here, we review ecological aspects of airborne microorg...

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Autores principales: Šantl-Temkiv, Tina, Amato, Pierre, Casamayor, Emilio O, Lee, Patrick K H, Pointing, Stephen B
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9249623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35137064
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuac009
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author Šantl-Temkiv, Tina
Amato, Pierre
Casamayor, Emilio O
Lee, Patrick K H
Pointing, Stephen B
author_facet Šantl-Temkiv, Tina
Amato, Pierre
Casamayor, Emilio O
Lee, Patrick K H
Pointing, Stephen B
author_sort Šantl-Temkiv, Tina
collection PubMed
description The atmosphere connects habitats across multiple spatial scales via airborne dispersal of microbial cells, propagules and biomolecules. Atmospheric microorganisms have been implicated in a variety of biochemical and biophysical transformations. Here, we review ecological aspects of airborne microorganisms with respect to their dispersal, activity and contribution to climatic processes. Latest studies utilizing metagenomic approaches demonstrate that airborne microbial communities exhibit pronounced biogeography, driven by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors. We quantify distributions and fluxes of microbial cells between surface habitats and the atmosphere and place special emphasis on long-range pathogen dispersal. Recent advances have established that these processes may be relevant for macroecological outcomes in terrestrial and marine habitats. We evaluate the potential biological transformation of atmospheric volatile organic compounds and other substrates by airborne microorganisms and discuss clouds as hotspots of microbial metabolic activity in the atmosphere. Furthermore, we emphasize the role of microorganisms as ice nucleating particles and their relevance for the water cycle via formation of clouds and precipitation. Finally, potential impacts of anthropogenic forcing on the natural atmospheric microbiota via emission of particulate matter, greenhouse gases and microorganisms are discussed.
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spelling pubmed-92496232022-07-05 Microbial ecology of the atmosphere Šantl-Temkiv, Tina Amato, Pierre Casamayor, Emilio O Lee, Patrick K H Pointing, Stephen B FEMS Microbiol Rev Review Article The atmosphere connects habitats across multiple spatial scales via airborne dispersal of microbial cells, propagules and biomolecules. Atmospheric microorganisms have been implicated in a variety of biochemical and biophysical transformations. Here, we review ecological aspects of airborne microorganisms with respect to their dispersal, activity and contribution to climatic processes. Latest studies utilizing metagenomic approaches demonstrate that airborne microbial communities exhibit pronounced biogeography, driven by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors. We quantify distributions and fluxes of microbial cells between surface habitats and the atmosphere and place special emphasis on long-range pathogen dispersal. Recent advances have established that these processes may be relevant for macroecological outcomes in terrestrial and marine habitats. We evaluate the potential biological transformation of atmospheric volatile organic compounds and other substrates by airborne microorganisms and discuss clouds as hotspots of microbial metabolic activity in the atmosphere. Furthermore, we emphasize the role of microorganisms as ice nucleating particles and their relevance for the water cycle via formation of clouds and precipitation. Finally, potential impacts of anthropogenic forcing on the natural atmospheric microbiota via emission of particulate matter, greenhouse gases and microorganisms are discussed. Oxford University Press 2022-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9249623/ /pubmed/35137064 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuac009 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Šantl-Temkiv, Tina
Amato, Pierre
Casamayor, Emilio O
Lee, Patrick K H
Pointing, Stephen B
Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title_full Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title_fullStr Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title_full_unstemmed Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title_short Microbial ecology of the atmosphere
title_sort microbial ecology of the atmosphere
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9249623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35137064
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuac009
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