Air microbiology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  10 October 2023 | Open Access

  Marine viruses disperse bidirectionally along the natural water cycle

  Here, the authors provide evidence that marine viruses spread via aerosolization and rain through the natural water cycle. Hosts from the first centimeters of the marine water column show signs of immunity against rain viruses. Those have DNA adaptations facilitating their stay in the air.

  • Janina Rahlff
  • , Sarah P. Esser
  •  & Alexander J. Probst

• Article
  11 March 2023 | Open Access

  Indoor air surveillance and factors associated with respiratory pathogen detection in community settings in Belgium

  Surveillance of respiratory pathogens in air may improve understanding of indoor transmission risks but impacts of context-specific factors on pathogen abundance are not well understood. Here, the authors investigate factors associated with 29 respiratory pathogens through surveillance of 21 community settings in Belgium.

  • Joren Raymenants
  • , Caspar Geenen
  •  & Emmanuel André

• Article
  05 September 2022 | Open Access

  Structure and activity of particulate methane monooxygenase arrays in methanotrophs

  Particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) is the main enzyme used by methanotrophs. Here, the authors determined the native structure of pMMO by cryo-electron tomography, revealing lipid-stabilized features and a higher-order hexagonal array arrangement in intact cells.

  • Yanan Zhu
  • , Christopher W. Koo
  •  & Peijun Zhang

• Article
  11 August 2022 | Open Access

  SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens are detected in continuous air samples from congregate settings

  Air surveillance offers a potential means of monitoring airborne pathogens without the need for individual sampling. Here, the authors perform continuous air sampling in 15 community settings in the US for 29 weeks and demonstrate its feasibility for routine detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens.

  • Mitchell D. Ramuta
  • , Christina M. Newman
  •  & Shelby L. O’Connor

• Article
  29 May 2020 | Open Access

  Detection of air and surface contamination by SARS-CoV-2 in hospital rooms of infected patients

  Here, the authors sample air and surfaces in hospital rooms of COVID-19 patients, detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air samples of two of three tested airborne infection isolation rooms, and find surface contamination in 66.7% of tested rooms during the first week of illness and 20% beyond the first week of illness.

  • Po Ying Chia
  • , Kristen Kelli Coleman
  •  & Daniela Moses

• Article
  16 April 2019 | Open Access

  Microbial and metabolic succession on common building materials under high humidity conditions

  Microbes inhabit built environments and could contribute to degradation of surfaces especially in damp conditions. Here the authors explore how communities of microbes and their metabolites affect four types of built surfaces under varying environmental conditions.

  • Simon Lax
  • , Cesar Cardona
  •  & Jack A. Gilbert

• Article
  22 May 2018 | Open Access

  Taxon-specific aerosolization of bacteria and viruses in an experimental ocean-atmosphere mesocosm

  Factors controlling the transfer of microbes from the ocean to the atmosphere are unclear. Here, Michaud et al. study this process in an enclosed ocean-atmosphere facility, and show that the degree of aerosolization of bacteria and viruses is taxon-specific.

  • Jennifer M. Michaud
  • , Luke R. Thompson
  •  & Kimberly A. Prather

• Article
  04 August 2017 | Open Access

  Long-range transport of airborne microbes over the global tropical and subtropical ocean

  The extent to which the ocean acts as a sink and source of airborne particles to the atmosphere is unresolved. Here, the authors report high microbial loads over the tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and propose islands as stepping stones for the transoceanic transport of terrestrial microbes..

  • Eva Mayol
  • , Jesús M. Arrieta
  •  & Carlos M. Duarte

• Article
  07 March 2017 | Open Access

  Bioaerosol generation by raindrops on soil

  Bioaerosols may be generated when bubbles break on the surface of water, but it is unclear if this mechanism works with soil-based microbes. Here, the authors show that soil bacteria may be transferred from the soil surface and dispersed by raindrops.

  • Young Soo Joung
  • , Zhifei Ge
  •  & Cullen R. Buie

• Article | 20 May 2014

  Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica

  Geographical isolation is often considered an effective barrier to microbial transport. Here, the authors provide evidence of active recruitment of long-distance dispersed cosmopolitan microorganisms in fumarolic environments in Mount Erebus, Antarctica.

  • Craig W. Herbold
  • , Charles K. Lee
  •  & S. Craig Cary