Long-range transport of bacterial communities: impact of Saharan dust storms on local particulate matter and mountain environments
Author(s)
Montalbani, Elena
Date Issued
June 6, 2017
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Deserts are one of the main sources of particulate matter (PM) that during dust storm can mediate
the long-range transport of associated microorganisms. This PhD Thesis aimed to investigate the
impact of Saharan intrusions on the microbial diversity of local PM and on a remote environment,
such as a mountain glacier.
The first part of the work showed that the microbial communities in PM10 sampled in Monte
Martano, a remote site well-suited for monitoring long-range air mass intrusions, during Saharan
dust storms were significantly different from those occurring when air masses were of regional or
European origins.
The second part focused on PM during the strongest Saharan desert dust storm occurring in Europe
in the last period and integrated culture-independent and culture-based analyses to demonstrate how
several bacterial populations, typical of desert and dry soil environments, could survive long-range
transport in the atmosphere reaching our latitudes viable and metabolically active.
In the final part, the impact of Saharan dust depositions on the microbiota of the Calderone glacier,
the southernmost in Europe, was investigated. Data showed that Saharan-impacted snow was
enriched with bacterial populations that were also abundant in PM collected during African dust
intrusions, indicating that airborne, dust-carried bacteria could colonize extreme environments, such
as a mountain glacier.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze ambientali
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