Airborne transport of microorganisms is assumed to occur over vast global scales, but we know little about it. Gusareva et al. undertook a year-long metagenomic study of atmospheric organisms above Singapore. Daily patterns were seen in more than 700 taxa, dominated by eukaryotes. At night, spores of basidiomycete fungi formed the greatest airborne biomass. Ascomycete fungal spores prevailed during daytime and correlated with rainfall. The richness of the bacterial groups Firmicutes and Proteobacteria peaked at noon, whereas Cyanobacteria and Actinobacteria abundances stayed uniform over 24 hours. The chief variable was the shift between temperatures at night (26°C) and day (35°C at noon), which presumably drives lift-off.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 23299 (2019).
Source: Science