<i>Curtobacterium aetherium</i> sp. nov., a polyextremophilic plant pathogen isolated from the stratosphere

Enormous quantities and varieties of microorganisms are continually aerosolized and transported in the atmosphere, yet there is a limited understanding of the consequences to downwind ecosystems. While studying bacteria that survive extreme conditions at altitudes up to 29 km in the atmosphere, we discovered new species that have the capacity to cause disease in agriculturally relevant bean varieties. The hardiest isolate we characterized from the stratosphere is a member of the same species as an isolate from an agricultural source, which we have designated <i>Curtobacterium aetherium</i>. <i>C. aetherium</i> is a phytopathogen capable of enduring high-altitude and long-distance atmospheric transport while also possessing the potential to opportunistically infect crops in deposition locations.