Identification of Culturable Bioaerosols Collected over Dryland in Northwest China: Observation using a Tethered Balloon

Abstract

The transfer of microorganisms is important process for ecosystems. Microorganisms in dryland can transport itself to wetland through atmospheric diffusion, but only few papers reported about the atmospheric bioaerosol present over dryland. We carried out the direct sampling using a tethered balloon over Dunhuang City, China’s northwestern dryland. Bioaerosols were collected using a tethered balloon with a bioaerosol collector at 820 m above the ground (1,960 m above the sea level) around noon on August 17, 2007. The bioaerosols were cultured after the collection at Dunhuang Meteorological observatory. Two strains of molds were isolated using the Nutrient agar medium. About 400-bp 18S rRNA partial sequences were amplified by PCR and determined afterwards. The results of a homology search by 18S rRNA sequences of isolates in DNA databases (GenBank, DDBJ, and EMBL) and an observation of the form revealed that two bioaerosols in the convective mixed layer over Dunhuang City were Cladosporium sp. and Aspergillus sp.

Keywords

• atmospheric bioaerosols
• cladosporium
• aspergillus
• dryland ecosystem
• tethered balloon