Microbial communities in the tropical air ecosystem follow a precise diel cycle

Elena S Gusareva; Enzo Acerbi; Kenny J X Lau; Irvan Luhung; Balakrishnan N V Premkrishnan; Sandra Kolundžija; Rikky W Purbojati; Anthony Wong; James N I Houghton; Dana Miller; Nicolas E Gaultier; Cassie E Heinle; Megan E Clare; Vineeth Kodengil Vettath; Carmon Kee; Serene B Y Lim; Caroline Chénard; Wen Jia Phung; Kavita K Kushwaha; Ang Poh Nee; Alexander Putra; Deepa Panicker; Koh Yanqing; Yap Zhei Hwee; Sachin R Lohar; Mikinori Kuwata; Hie Lim Kim; Liang Yang; Akira Uchida; Daniela I Drautz-Moses; Ana Carolina M Junqueira; Stephan C Schuster

doi:10.1073/pnas.1908493116

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Microbial communities in the tropical air ecosystem follow a precise diel cycle

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Microbial communities in the tropical air ecosystem follow a precise diel cycle

Elena S Gusareva, Enzo Acerbi, Kenny J X Lau, Irvan Luhung, Balakrishnan N V Premkrishnan, Sandra Kolundžija, Rikky W Purbojati, Anthony Wong, James N I Houghton, Dana Miller, …

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.116(46), pp.23299-23308

12/11/2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1908493116

PMCID: PMC6859341

PMID: 31659049

Abstract

Air Microbiology

Air Pollutants - analysis

Circadian Rhythm

Ecosystem

Metagenome

Microbiota

Models, Biological

Singapore

Tropical Climate

The atmosphere is vastly underexplored as a habitable ecosystem for microbial organisms. In this study, we investigated 795 time-resolved metagenomes from tropical air, generating 2.27 terabases of data. Despite only 9 to 17% of the generated sequence data currently being assignable to taxa, the air harbored a microbial diversity that rivals the complexity of other planetary ecosystems. The airborne microbial organisms followed a clear diel cycle, possibly driven by environmental factors. Interday taxonomic diversity exceeded day-to-day and month-to-month variation. Environmental time series revealed the existence of a large core of microbial taxa that remained invariable over 13 mo, thereby underlining the long-term robustness of the airborne community structure. Unlike terrestrial or aquatic environments, where prokaryotes are prevalent, the tropical airborne biomass was dominated by DNA from eukaryotic phyla. Specific fungal and bacterial species were strongly correlated with temperature, humidity, and CO concentration, making them suitable biomarkers for studying the bioaerosol dynamics of the atmosphere.

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Title: Microbial communities in the tropical air ecosystem follow a precise diel cycle
Creators - without role: Elena S Gusareva - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Enzo Acerbi - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Kenny J X Lau - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Irvan Luhung - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Balakrishnan N V Premkrishnan - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Sandra Kolundžija - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Rikky W Purbojati - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Anthony Wong - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
James N I Houghton - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Dana Miller - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Nicolas E Gaultier - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Cassie E Heinle - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Megan E Clare - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Vineeth Kodengil Vettath - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Carmon Kee - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Serene B Y Lim - Nanyang Technological University
Caroline Chénard - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Wen Jia Phung - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Kavita K Kushwaha - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Ang Poh Nee - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Alexander Putra - Nanyang Technological University
Deepa Panicker - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Koh Yanqing - Nanyang Technological University
Yap Zhei Hwee - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Sachin R Lohar - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Mikinori Kuwata - Nanyang Technological University
Hie Lim Kim - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Liang Yang - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Akira Uchida - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Daniela I Drautz-Moses - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Ana Carolina M Junqueira - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Stephan C Schuster - Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.116(46), pp.23299-23308
Identifiers: 9944481108331
Academic Unit: King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article