. | . |
Ocean atmosphere rife with microbes by Staff Writers Thuwal, Saudi Arabia (SPX) Oct 18, 2017
Microbes in the atmosphere and the role of the oceans in their movement have been largely overlooked by researchers. Now, an international team shows that the oceans contribute to a large fraction of the microbes found in the global atmosphere. Understanding the oceans' role as a source and sink for airborne microbes can provide insight into the maintenance of microbial diversity and how human, animal and plant pathogens spread over oceans and between landmasses. The team, which included researchers from KAUST as well as several Spanish and French organizations, expected that they would find many more microbes over land than over water. What they didn't know was how many microbes actually exist in the atmosphere over the oceans. More than 100 air samples were collected from tropical and subtropical regions over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans during an eight-month marine research expedition - the Malaspina 2010 Circumnavigation Expedition - that began in December 2010. "We found that the atmosphere is a vector for the long-range transport - typically 4,000Km - of airborne microbes, including bacteria and fungi among others, says Carlos Duarte of KAUST's Red Sea Research Center, who led the study. "Even in the open ocean, more than half of the microbial load in the atmosphere is derived from land." Atmospheric transport may be important in redistributing pathogens across the globe, he adds. The team found an average of 67,000 prokaryotes (non-nucleus-containing single-celled organisms like bacteria) per cubic meter of sampled air over the oceans compared to 190,000 bacteria per cubic meter of air over land. They also found an average of 32,000 eukaryotes (nucleus-containing microbes like fungi) per cubic meter of sampled air over the oceans compared to 240,000 fungal spores found per cubic meter of atmosphere over land. The maximum values of eukaryotes were found over the North Atlantic and East Pacific, most likely affected by African and Asian dust-related events in these regions. The team conducted genetic analyses and found 25% of the microbes in the atmosphere above the oceans were of marine origin, while 42% were land-based organisms and the remaining 24% were undetermined. More than 50% of the microbes in samples taken from the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which were far from landmasses and influenced by marine air masses, were of terrestrial or undetermined origin. "The results open up a new suite of research questions, including atmospheric pathways for the dispersal of pathogens, the role of small islands as stepping stones for the cross-basin transport of land microbes across vast distances, and the role these organisms play in condensing particles, including rain drops, in the atmosphere," says Duarte. He and his team have followed up with research on microbial loads over the Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic Ocean. They are also studying dust-associated organisms over the Red Sea.
Washington (UPI) Oct 16, 2017 New research suggests a massive plume of freshwater from Hurricane Harvey runoff is threatening coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Last month, monitoring buoys measured a 10 percent drop in salinity at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located 100 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. "The salinity at one buoy on the reef dropped from 36 to 32 on Sept. 28, but ... read more Related Links King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |