The relationship between air-mass trajectories and the abundance of dust-borne prokaryotes at the SE Mediterranean Sea

Eyal Rahav; Natalia Belkin; Adina Paytan; Barak Herut

doi:10.3390/atmos10050280

The relationship between air-mass trajectories and the abundance of dust-borne prokaryotes at the SE Mediterranean Sea

Eyal Rahav, Natalia Belkin, Adina Paytan, Barak Herut

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Airborne prokaryotes are transported along with dust/aerosols, yet very little attention is given to their temporal variability above the oceans and the factors that govern their abundance. We analyzed the abundance of autotrophic (cyanobacteria) and heterotopic airborne microbes in 34 sampling events between 2015-2018 at a coastal site in the SE Mediterranean Sea. We show that airborne autotrophic (0.2-7.6 cells × 10³ m^-3) and heterotrophic (0.2-30.6 cells × 10³ m^-3) abundances were affected by the origin and air mass trajectory, and the concentration of dust/aerosols in the air, while seasonality was not coherent. The averaged ratio between heterotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes in marine-dominated trajectories was ~1.7 ± 0.6, significantly lower than for terrestrial routes (6.8 ± 6.1). Airborne prokaryotic abundances were linearly and positively correlated to the concentrations of total aerosol, while negatively correlated with the aerosol's anthropogenic fraction (using Pb/Al or Cu/Al ratios as proxies). While aerosols may play a major role in dispersing terrestrial and marine airborne microbes in the SE Mediterranean Sea, the mechanisms involved in the dispersal and diversity of airborne microorganisms remain to be studied and should include standardization in collection and analysis protocols.

Original language	English
Article number	280
Journal	ATMOSPHERE
Volume	10
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10050280
State	Published - 1 May 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program.

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program. We are grateful to Dar Golomb for contrasting the schematic illustration presented in Figure 1.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors.

Keywords

Airborne bacteria
Airborne cyanobacteria
Dust deposition
Southeastern Mediterranean Sea

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Atmospheric Science

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10.3390/atmos10050280

Cite this

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abstract = "Airborne prokaryotes are transported along with dust/aerosols, yet very little attention is given to their temporal variability above the oceans and the factors that govern their abundance. We analyzed the abundance of autotrophic (cyanobacteria) and heterotopic airborne microbes in 34 sampling events between 2015-2018 at a coastal site in the SE Mediterranean Sea. We show that airborne autotrophic (0.2-7.6 cells × 103 m-3) and heterotrophic (0.2-30.6 cells × 103 m-3) abundances were affected by the origin and air mass trajectory, and the concentration of dust/aerosols in the air, while seasonality was not coherent. The averaged ratio between heterotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes in marine-dominated trajectories was ~1.7 ± 0.6, significantly lower than for terrestrial routes (6.8 ± 6.1). Airborne prokaryotic abundances were linearly and positively correlated to the concentrations of total aerosol, while negatively correlated with the aerosol's anthropogenic fraction (using Pb/Al or Cu/Al ratios as proxies). While aerosols may play a major role in dispersing terrestrial and marine airborne microbes in the SE Mediterranean Sea, the mechanisms involved in the dispersal and diversity of airborne microorganisms remain to be studied and should include standardization in collection and analysis protocols.",

keywords = "Airborne bacteria, Airborne cyanobacteria, Dust deposition, Southeastern Mediterranean Sea",

author = "Eyal Rahav and Natalia Belkin and Adina Paytan and Barak Herut",

note = "Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program. We are grateful to Dar Golomb for contrasting the schematic illustration presented in Figure 1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 by the authors.",

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AU - Herut, Barak

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program. Funding Information: This research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation grant number 1211/17 (E.R. and B.H.) and by the NSF-OCE grant number 0850467 (A.P.). The authors also acknowledge the Mermex-TRANCOMED grant (B.H. and E.R.) of the French ENVIMED program. We are grateful to Dar Golomb for contrasting the schematic illustration presented in Figure 1. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 by the authors.

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N2 - Airborne prokaryotes are transported along with dust/aerosols, yet very little attention is given to their temporal variability above the oceans and the factors that govern their abundance. We analyzed the abundance of autotrophic (cyanobacteria) and heterotopic airborne microbes in 34 sampling events between 2015-2018 at a coastal site in the SE Mediterranean Sea. We show that airborne autotrophic (0.2-7.6 cells × 103 m-3) and heterotrophic (0.2-30.6 cells × 103 m-3) abundances were affected by the origin and air mass trajectory, and the concentration of dust/aerosols in the air, while seasonality was not coherent. The averaged ratio between heterotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes in marine-dominated trajectories was ~1.7 ± 0.6, significantly lower than for terrestrial routes (6.8 ± 6.1). Airborne prokaryotic abundances were linearly and positively correlated to the concentrations of total aerosol, while negatively correlated with the aerosol's anthropogenic fraction (using Pb/Al or Cu/Al ratios as proxies). While aerosols may play a major role in dispersing terrestrial and marine airborne microbes in the SE Mediterranean Sea, the mechanisms involved in the dispersal and diversity of airborne microorganisms remain to be studied and should include standardization in collection and analysis protocols.

AB - Airborne prokaryotes are transported along with dust/aerosols, yet very little attention is given to their temporal variability above the oceans and the factors that govern their abundance. We analyzed the abundance of autotrophic (cyanobacteria) and heterotopic airborne microbes in 34 sampling events between 2015-2018 at a coastal site in the SE Mediterranean Sea. We show that airborne autotrophic (0.2-7.6 cells × 103 m-3) and heterotrophic (0.2-30.6 cells × 103 m-3) abundances were affected by the origin and air mass trajectory, and the concentration of dust/aerosols in the air, while seasonality was not coherent. The averaged ratio between heterotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes in marine-dominated trajectories was ~1.7 ± 0.6, significantly lower than for terrestrial routes (6.8 ± 6.1). Airborne prokaryotic abundances were linearly and positively correlated to the concentrations of total aerosol, while negatively correlated with the aerosol's anthropogenic fraction (using Pb/Al or Cu/Al ratios as proxies). While aerosols may play a major role in dispersing terrestrial and marine airborne microbes in the SE Mediterranean Sea, the mechanisms involved in the dispersal and diversity of airborne microorganisms remain to be studied and should include standardization in collection and analysis protocols.

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ER -

The relationship between air-mass trajectories and the abundance of dust-borne prokaryotes at the SE Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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