TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative study of the airborne microbial communities and their functional composition in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) under non-extreme and extreme PM2.5 conditions
AU - Abd Aziz, Azilah
AU - Lee, Kwangyul
AU - Park, Byeonghyeok
AU - Park, Hongjae
AU - Park, Kihong
AU - Choi, In Geol
AU - Chang, In Seop
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the PM2.5 research consortium (NRF- 2014M3C8A5028593 ) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea and the GIST Research Institute (GRI) in 2018.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Asian dust (AD) events increase environmental pollution and have a detrimental effect on human health. Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and containing airborne microorganisms increases during AD events due to the transportation of dust by wind from several arid regions in China. This study analyzed the bacterial and fungal communities associated with average daily PM2.5 concentrations less than (on non-event day: ND) and exceeding (on event day: ED) the air quality standard (36 μg PM2.5 m-3) set by the Korean government. The taxon compositions and functional genes of airborne microorganisms were assessed using shotgun metagenomics sequencing and metagenome rapid annotation using subsystem technology (MG-RAST) analysis. MG-RAST is an open source web application, serving as a platform that automatically analyzes uploaded metagenomes. During ND, 51% of total bacteria sequences consisted of those from Proteobacteria, which were closely related to nitrogen-fixing bacterial species. A high percentage of functional genes consisted of those genes related to nitrogen metabolism, suggesting that the airborne microorganisms are associated with environmental nitrogen cycles. During ED, 57% of total bacteria sequences consisted of those from Bacteroidetes, accompanied by high relative abundance of sequences from pathogenic species of Bacillus and Staphylococcus. Fungal sequences were mainly composed of those from the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which include spore-forming species transported frequently by wind. The abundance of Ascomycota sequences was higher in ED (81%) than in ND (22%) samples, and mainly included those from the plant pathogens Phaeosphaeria and Pyrenophora. These findings indicated that microbial composition shifted from ND to ED samples, even at the phylum level. This switch was likely due to the sources of dust particles, with those during ED being primarily from arid regions in Mongolia and industrial regions in China. Additional studies are required to further understand the diversification of airborne microbial communities in downwind areas.
AB - Asian dust (AD) events increase environmental pollution and have a detrimental effect on human health. Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and containing airborne microorganisms increases during AD events due to the transportation of dust by wind from several arid regions in China. This study analyzed the bacterial and fungal communities associated with average daily PM2.5 concentrations less than (on non-event day: ND) and exceeding (on event day: ED) the air quality standard (36 μg PM2.5 m-3) set by the Korean government. The taxon compositions and functional genes of airborne microorganisms were assessed using shotgun metagenomics sequencing and metagenome rapid annotation using subsystem technology (MG-RAST) analysis. MG-RAST is an open source web application, serving as a platform that automatically analyzes uploaded metagenomes. During ND, 51% of total bacteria sequences consisted of those from Proteobacteria, which were closely related to nitrogen-fixing bacterial species. A high percentage of functional genes consisted of those genes related to nitrogen metabolism, suggesting that the airborne microorganisms are associated with environmental nitrogen cycles. During ED, 57% of total bacteria sequences consisted of those from Bacteroidetes, accompanied by high relative abundance of sequences from pathogenic species of Bacillus and Staphylococcus. Fungal sequences were mainly composed of those from the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which include spore-forming species transported frequently by wind. The abundance of Ascomycota sequences was higher in ED (81%) than in ND (22%) samples, and mainly included those from the plant pathogens Phaeosphaeria and Pyrenophora. These findings indicated that microbial composition shifted from ND to ED samples, even at the phylum level. This switch was likely due to the sources of dust particles, with those during ED being primarily from arid regions in Mongolia and industrial regions in China. Additional studies are required to further understand the diversification of airborne microbial communities in downwind areas.
KW - Airborne microorganism
KW - Fine particulate matter
KW - Functional composition
KW - Microbial community
KW - PM
KW - Shotgun metagenomics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053753693&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.09.027
DO - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.09.027
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85053753693
SN - 1352-2310
VL - 194
SP - 82
EP - 92
JO - Atmospheric Environment
JF - Atmospheric Environment
ER -
