Ecology of Airborne\nMicroorganisms: Understanding\nthe Impact of Haze and Sandstorms on Bacterial Community Structure\nand Pathogenicity

The adverse health effects of air pollutants are closely\nassociated\nwith their components, including bioaerosols. However, the characteristics\nof bioaerosols during pollution processes are not yet fully understood.\nHere, we investigated the 2- to 6-hly dynamics of bacterial aerosols\nover a short period that spanned one instance of haze and one sandstorm.\n16S rRNA gene (rDNA) sequencing was used to identify the total bacteria,\nand 16S rRNA (rRNA) sequencing was applied to characterize the actively\nmetabolizing bacteria. The results revealed the highest bacterial\ndiversity in sandstorm air and the lowest bacterial diversity in haze\nair, with markedly different community structures. Moreover, substantial\ndissimilarity was detected between the communities of total bacteria\nand active bacteria within the sandstorm air, with less abundant bacteria\ndominating the active bacterial population. Selective pressure played\na pivotal role in shaping the composition of active bacteria during\nsandstorms and the total bacterial community in hazy air, thereby\nenabling potential interactions between airborne microorganisms and\nchemical components. Additionally, functional prediction analysis\nsuggested increased pathogenicity in the active bacteria of sandstorm\nair. These insights into the aggregated hourly dynamics and activity\nof bacterial aerosols during pollution processes underscore the importance\nof further research into the complex interactions between bioaerosols\nand air pollutants.