Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Assessment of Airborne Microbial Community in Indian Cities during the Middle East Dust Storm


Affiliations
1 National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
 

Globally dust storms have greatly affected air quality, and nearly 5.0 billion tonnes of dust undergoes migra-tion every year. A plethora of microorganisms spread far and wide along with the dust particles during dust storms. In April 2015, a dust storm originated from the Middle East and travelled to many Indian cities. We analysed the impact of the dust storm on the diversity and composition of aerial microorganisms using cultivation-based methods. Sampling was done in three cities (Mumbai, Lonavala and Pune) during a dust storm day (DSD) and a post-dust storm day (PSD). A total of 580 morphologically different bacte-ria and then ten mycelial fungi were isolated during the study. Identification based on MALDI-TOF MS biotyping, sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and ITS region revealed that the bacterial isolates belonged to 32 different genera and fungi to four different genera. Principal coordinate analysis exhibited separate grouping of DSD and PSD samples, indicating the shift in microbial communities. Osmotolerant and halotolerant bacterial genera, viz. Psychrobacter and Exiguobacterium were recorded specifically during DSD. The proportion of opportunistic pathogens, including Staphylococcus and Enterobacter was high during DSD in comparison to PSD. Overall, the study reveals the influence of dust storms on the aerial microbial composition and indicates the possible spread of specific microbial species during a dust storm event.

Keywords

Airborne, Dust Storm, High-Throughput Cultivation, Microorganisms, Mass Spectroscopy.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Mosttafiz, S. B., Rahman, M. and Rahman, M., Biotechnology: role of microbes in sustainable agriculture and environmental health. Internet J. Microbiol., 2012, 10, 5580.
  • Barberán, A., Henley, J., Fierer, N. and Casamayor, E. O., Struc-ture, inter-annual recurrence, and global-scale connectivity of airborne microbial communities. Sci. Total Environ., 2014, 487, 187–195.
  • Sissakian, V. K., Al-Ansari, N. and Knutsson, S., Sand and dust storm events in Iraq. Nat. Sci., 2013, 5, 1084–1094.
  • Griffin, D. and Kellogg, C., Dust storms and their impact on Ocean and human health: dust in Earth’s atmosphere. Ecohealth, 2004, 1, 284–295.
  • Kellogg, C. A., Griffin, D. W., Garrison, V. H., Peak, K. K., Roy-all, N. and Smith, R. R., Characterization of aerosolized bacteria and fungi from desert dust events in Mali, West Africa. Aerobio-logia (Bologna), 2004, 20, 99–110.
  • Griffin, D. W., Atmospheric movement of microorganisms in clouds of desert dust and implications for human health. Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 2007, 20, 459–477.
  • Carlquist, S., The biota of long-distance dispersal. V. Plant disper-sal to Pacific islands. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 1967, 94, 129–162.
  • Määttänen, A., Fouchet, T., Forni, O., Forget, F., Savijärvi, H. and Gondet, B., A study of the properties of a local dust storm with Mars Express OMEGA and PFS data. Icarus, 2009, 201, 504–416.
  • Talamantes, J., Behseta, S. and Zender, C. S., Statistical modeling of valley fever data in Kern County, California. Int. J. Biometeor-ol., 2007, 51, 307–313.
  • Rahi, P., Prakash, O. and Shouche, Y. S., Matrix-assisted laser desor-ption/ionization time-of-flight mass-spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) based microbial identifications: challenges and scopes for microbial ecologists. Front. Microbiol., 2016, 7, 1–12.
  • Barghouthi, S. A., A universal method for the identification of bacteria based on general PCR primers. Indian J. Microbiol., 2011, 51, 430–444.
  • Paithankar, K. R. and Prasad, K. S. N., Precipitation of DNA by polyethylene glycol and ethanol. Nucleic Acids Res., 1991, 19, 1346.
  • Kim, O. S., Cho, Y. J., Lee, K., Yoon, S. H., Kim, M. and Na, H., Introducing EzTaxon-e: a prokaryotic 16s rRNA gene sequence database with phylotypes that represent uncultured species. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2012, 62, 716–721.
  • Hughes, J. B. and Bohannan, B. J. M., Application of ecological diversity statistics in microbial ecology. Molecular Microbial Ecology Manual, Springer, Berlin, Germany. Park, 2004, 2nd edn, pp. 1–24.
  • Swap, R., Garstang, M., Greco, S., Talbot, R. and Kållberg, P., Saharan dust in the Amazon Basin. Tellus B, 1992, 44, 133–149.
  • Kaufman, Y. J., Koren, I., Remer, L. A., Tanré, D., Ginoux, P. and Fan, S., Dust transport and deposition observed from the Terra-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) space-craft over the Atlantic Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. D, 2005, 110, 1–16.
  • Gallisai, R., Peters, F., Volpe, G., Basart, S. and Baldasano, J. M., Saharan dust deposition may affect phytoplankton growth in the Mediterranean Sea at ecological time scales. PLoS ONE, 2014, 9(10), e110762.
  • Peter, H., Hörtnagl, P., Reche, I. and Sommaruga, R., Bacterial diversity and composition during rain events with and without Saharan dust influence reaching a high mountain lake in the Alps. Environ. Microbiol. Rep., 2014, 6, 618–624.
  • Bowers, R. M., Sullivan, A. P., Costello, E. K., Collett, J. L., Knight, R. and Fierer, N., Sources of bacteria in outdoor air across cities in the midwestern United States. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 2011, 77, 6350–6356.
  • Gat, D., Mazar, Y., Cytryn, E. and Rudich, Y., Origin-dependent variations in the atmospheric microbiome community in eastern Mediterranean dust storms. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2017, 51, 6709–6718.
  • Goudarzi, G., Shirmardi, M., Khodarahmi, F., Hashemi-Shahraki, A., Alavi, N. and Ankali, K. A., Particulate matter and bacteria characteristics of the Middle East Dust (MED) storms over Ahvaz, Iran. Aerobiologia (Bologna), 2014, 30, 345–356.
  • Zakey, A. S., Abdel-Wahab, M. M., Pettersson, J. B. C., Gatari, M. J. and Hallquist, M., Seasonal and spatial variation of atmos-pheric particulate matter in a developing megacity, the Greater Cairo, Egypt. Atmosfera, 2008, 21, 171–189.
  • Shaffer, B. T. and Lighthart, B., Survey of airborne bacteria at four diverse locations in Oredgon urban, rural, forest, and coastal. Microb. Ecol., 1997, 34, 167–177.
  • Polymenakou, P. N., Mandalakis, M., Stephanou, E. G. and Tsel-epides, A., Particle size distribution of airborne microorganisms and pathogens during an intense African dust event in the eastern Mediterranean. Environ. Health Perspect., 2008, 116, 292–296.
  • Starostin, K. V., Demidov, E. A., Bryanskaya, A. V., Efimov, V. M., Rozanov, A. S. and Peltek, S. E., Identification of Bacillus strains by MALDI TOF MS using geometric approach. Sci. Rep., 2015, 5, 1–9.
  • Wang, W., Xi, H., Huang, M., Wang, J., Fan, M. and Chen, Y., Performance of mass spectrometric identification of bacteria and yeasts routinely isolated in a clinical microbiology laboratory using MALDI-TOF MS. J. Thorac. Dis., 2014, 6, 524–533.
  • Manukumar, H. M. and Umesha, S., MALDI-TOF-MS based iden-tification and molecular characterization of food associated methi-cillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Sci. Rep., 2017, 7, 1–16.
  • Griffin, D. W., Westphal, D. L. and Gray, M. A., Airborne micro-organisms in the African desert dust corridor over the mid-Atlantic ridge, Ocean Drilling Program, Leg 209. Aerobiologia (Bologna), 2006, 22, 211–226.
  • Mazar, Y., Cytryn, E., Erel, Y. and Rudich, Y., Effect of dust storms on the atmospheric microbiome in the Eastern Mediterra-nean. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2016, 50, 4194–4202.
  • Vishnivetskaya, T. A., Kathariou, S. and Tiedje, J. M., The Exigu-obacterium genus: biodiversity and biogeography. Extremophiles, 2009, 13, 541–455.
  • Rodrigues, D. F., Da, C., Jesus, E., Ayala-Del-Río, H. L., Pellizari, V. H., Gilichinsky, D. and Sepulveda-Torres, L., Biogeography of two cold-adapted genera: Psychrobacter and Exiguobacterium. ISME J., 2009, 3, 658–665.
  • Strahsburger, E., Zapata, F., Pedroso, I., Fuentes, D., Tapia, P. and Ponce, R., Draft genome sequence of Exiguobacterium auranti-acum strain PN47 isolate from saline ponds, known as – Salar del Huasco‖ located in the Altiplano in the North of Chile. Braz. J. Microbiol., 2018, 49, 7–9.
  • Collins, M. D., Lund, B. M., Farrow, J. A. E. and Schleifer, K. H., Chemotaxonomic study of an alkalophilic bacterium, Exiguobac-terium aurantiacum gen. nov., sp. nov. Microbiology, 1983, 129, 2037–2042.
  • Bozal, N., Montes, M. J., Tudela, E. and Guinea, J., Characteriza-tion of several Psychrobacter strains isolated from Antarctic envi-ronments and description of Psychrobacter luti sp. nov. and Psychrobacter fozii sp. nov. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., 2003, 53, 1093–1100.
  • Dias, L. M., Folador, A. R. C., Oliveira, A. M., Ramos, R. T. J., Silva, A. and Baraúna, R. A., Genomic architecture of the two cold-adapted genera Exiguobacterium and Psychrobacter: evi-dence of functional reduction in the Exiguobacterium antarcticum B7 genome. Genome Biol. Evol., 2018, 10, 731–741.
  • Hallegraeff, G., Coman, F., Davies, C., Hayashi, A., McLeod, D. and Slotwinski, A., Australian dust storm associated with exten-sive Aspergillus sydowii fungal – Bloom‖ in coastal waters. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 2014, 80, 3315–3320.
  • Soler-Hurtado, M. M., Sandoval-Sierra, J. V., Machordom, A. and Diéguez-Uribeondo, J., Aspergillus sydowii and other potential fungal pathogens in Gorgonian octocorals of the Ecuadorian Pacific. PLoS ONE, 2016, 11, 1–12.
  • Rivest, E. B., Baker, D. M., Rypien, K. L. and Harvell, C. D., Nitrogen source preference of Aspergillus sydowii, an infective agent associated with aspergillosis of sea fan corals. Limnol. Oceanogr., 2010, 55, 386–392.
  • Gautam, A. K., Sharma, S., Avasthi, S. and Bhadauria, R., Diver-sity, pathogenicity and toxicology of A. niger: an important spoilage fungi. Res. J. Microbiol., 2011, 6, 270–280.
  • Chen, S. J., Hsieh, L. T., Kao, M. J., Lin, W. Y., Huang, K. L. and Lin, C. C., Characteristics of particles sampled in southern Taiwan during the Asian dust storm periods in 2000 and 2001. Atmos. Environ., 2004, 38, 5925–5934.
  • Griffin, D. W., Kellogg, C. A., Garrison, V. H., Lisle, J. T., Borden, T. C. and Shinn, E. A., Atmospheric microbiology in the northern Caribbean during African dust events. Aerobiologia (Bologna), 2003, 19, 143–157.
  • Nourmoradi, H., Moradnejadi, K., Moghadam, F. M., Khosravi, B., Hemati, L. and Khoshniyat, R., The effect of dust storm on the microbial quality of ambient air in Sanandaj: a city located in the West of Iran. Global J. Health Sci., 2015, 7, 46888.
  • An, S., Sin, H. H. and DuBow, M. S., Modification of atmospheric sand-associated bacterial communities during Asian sandstorms in China and South Korea. Heredity (Edinb.), 2015, 114, 460–467.

Abstract Views: 237

PDF Views: 60




  • Assessment of Airborne Microbial Community in Indian Cities during the Middle East Dust Storm

Abstract Views: 237  |  PDF Views: 60

Authors

Vikas C. Ghattargi
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Mani Garg
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Sudeeksha Raina
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Jovita D. Silva
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Shrikant P. Pawar
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Praveen Rahi
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India
Yogesh S. Shouche
National Centre for Microbial Resource, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune 411 007, India

Abstract


Globally dust storms have greatly affected air quality, and nearly 5.0 billion tonnes of dust undergoes migra-tion every year. A plethora of microorganisms spread far and wide along with the dust particles during dust storms. In April 2015, a dust storm originated from the Middle East and travelled to many Indian cities. We analysed the impact of the dust storm on the diversity and composition of aerial microorganisms using cultivation-based methods. Sampling was done in three cities (Mumbai, Lonavala and Pune) during a dust storm day (DSD) and a post-dust storm day (PSD). A total of 580 morphologically different bacte-ria and then ten mycelial fungi were isolated during the study. Identification based on MALDI-TOF MS biotyping, sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and ITS region revealed that the bacterial isolates belonged to 32 different genera and fungi to four different genera. Principal coordinate analysis exhibited separate grouping of DSD and PSD samples, indicating the shift in microbial communities. Osmotolerant and halotolerant bacterial genera, viz. Psychrobacter and Exiguobacterium were recorded specifically during DSD. The proportion of opportunistic pathogens, including Staphylococcus and Enterobacter was high during DSD in comparison to PSD. Overall, the study reveals the influence of dust storms on the aerial microbial composition and indicates the possible spread of specific microbial species during a dust storm event.

Keywords


Airborne, Dust Storm, High-Throughput Cultivation, Microorganisms, Mass Spectroscopy.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv117%2Fi10%2F1693-1700