Diversity and seasonal dynamics of airborne archaea
Archaea are widespread and abundant in many terrestrial and aquatic environments, and are thus outside extreme environments, accounting for up to ~10% of the prokaryotes. Compared to bacteria and other microorganisms, however, very little is known about the abundance, diversity, and dispersal of arc...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014-11-01
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Series: | Biogeosciences |
Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/6067/2014/bg-11-6067-2014.pdf |
Summary: | Archaea are widespread and abundant in many terrestrial and aquatic
environments, and are thus outside extreme environments, accounting for up to
~10% of the prokaryotes. Compared to bacteria and other
microorganisms, however, very little is known about the abundance, diversity,
and dispersal of archaea in the atmosphere. By means of DNA analysis and Sanger
sequencing targeting the 16S rRNA (435 sequences) and <i>amoA</i> genes in
samples of air particulate matter collected over 1 year at a continental
sampling site in Germany, we obtained first insights into the seasonal
dynamics of airborne archaea. The detected archaea were identified as
<i>Thaumarchaeota</i> or <i>Euryarchaeota</i>, with soil
<i>Thaumarchaeota</i> (group I.1b) being present in all samples.
The normalized species richness of <i>Thaumarchaeota</i> correlated
positively with relative humidity and negatively with temperature. This
together with an increase in bare agricultural soil surfaces may explain the
diversity peaks observed in fall and winter. The detected
<i>Euryarchaeota</i> were mainly predicted methanogens with a low relative
frequency of occurrence. A slight increase in their frequency during spring
may be linked to fertilization processes in the surrounding agricultural
fields. Comparison with samples from the Cape Verde islands (72 sequences)
and from other coastal and continental sites indicates that the proportions
of <i>Euryarchaeota</i> are enhanced in coastal air, which is consistent
with their suggested abundance in marine surface waters. We conclude that air
transport may play an important role in the dispersal of archaea, including
assumed ammonia-oxidizing <i>Thaumarchaeota</i> and methanogens. |
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ISSN: | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |