Global airborne bacterial community-interactions with Earth's microbiomes and anthropogenic activities.

Airborne bacteria are an influential component of the Earth's microbiomes, but their community structure and biogeographic distribution patterns have yet to be understood. We analyzed the bacterial communities of 370 air particulate samples collected from 63 sites around the world and constructed an airborne bacterial reference catalog with more than 27 million nonredundant 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences. We present their biogeographic pattern and decipher the interlacing of the microbiome co-occurrence network with surface environments of the Earth. While the total abundance of global airborne bacteria in the troposphere (1.72 × 1024 cells) is 1 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of other habitats, the number of bacterial taxa (i.e., richness) in the atmosphere (4.71 × 108 to 3.08 × 109) is comparable to that in the hydrosphere, and its maximum occurs in midlatitude regions, as is also observed in other ecosystems. The airborne bacterial community harbors a unique set of dominant taxa (24 species); however, its structure appears to be more easily perturbed, due to the more prominent role of stochastic processes in shaping community assembly. This is corroborated by the major contribution of surface microbiomes to airborne bacteria (averaging 46.3%), while atmospheric conditions such as meteorological factors and air quality also play a role. Particularly in urban areas, human impacts weaken the relative importance of plant sources of airborne bacteria and elevate the occurrence of potential pathogens from anthropogenic sources. These findings serve as a key reference for predicting planetary microbiome responses and the health impacts of inhalable microbiomes with future changes in the environment.

Organic carbon preservation in wetlands: Iron oxide protection vs. thermodynamic limitation.

The sequestration of organic carbon (OC) in wetland sediments is influenced by the presence of oxygen or lack thereof. The mechanisms of OC sequestration under redox fluctuations, particularly by the co-mediation of reactive iron (Fe) protection and thermodynamic limitation by the energetics of the OC itself, remain unclear. Over the past 26 years, a combination of field surveys and remote sensing images had revealed a strong decline in both natural and constructed wetland areas in Tianjin. This decline could be attributed to anthropogenic landfill practices and agricultural reclamation efforts, which may have significant impacts on the oxidation-reduction conditions for sedimentary OC. The Fe-bound OC (CBD extraction) decreased by 2 to 10-fold (from 8.3 to 10% to 0.7-4.5%) with increasing sediment depth at three sites with varying water depths (WD). The high-resolution spectro-microscopy analysis demonstrated that Fe (oxyhydr)oxides were colocalized with sedimentary OC. Corresponding to lower redox potential, the nominal oxidation state of C (NOSC), which corresponds to the energy content in OC, became more negative (energy content increased) with increasing sediment depth. Taken together, the preservation of sedimentary OC is contingent on the prevailing redox conditions: In environments where oxygen availability is high, reactive Fe provides protection for OC, while in anoxic environments, thermodynamic constraints (i.e., energetic constraints) limit the oxidation of OC.

[Effects of freeze-thaw and soil moisture on content and spectral structure properties of dissolved organic matter in forest soil leachates.] / å†»èžæ¡ä»¶å’ŒåœŸå£¤æ¹¿åº¦å¯¹æ£®æž—åœŸå£¤æ¸—æ¼æ¶²æº¶è§£æ€§æœ‰æœºè´¨å«é‡ä¸Žå ‰è°±ç»“æž„ç‰¹å¾çš„å½±å“.

The contents and stability of soil dissolved organic matter (DOM) can affect key processes of soil carbon and nitrogen cycle. The responses of DOM content and its spectral structure pro-perties in forest soils to climate change remain unclear. We collected soil samples from two temperate forests, i.e., the broadleaf and Korean pine mixed forest (BKPF) and adjacent secondary white birch forest (WBF), in Changbai Mountains, northeastern China. Using a combination of three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum and parallel factor analysis, a simulated freeze-thaw experiment was conducted in the laboratory. We examined the effects of freeze-thaw intensity, freeze-thaw cycle and their interaction on the content, components and spectral properties of DOM leached from the two forest surface soils with different moisture levels. The results showed that DOM content and components of soil leachates varied with forest types, soil moisture, freeze-thaw intensity and freeze-thaw cycle. The DOM content in the leachates was lowest at medium moisture level and was significantly affected by the high freeze-thaw intensity. In addition, the DOM content increased first and then decreased with the increases of freeze-thaw cycles. Three fluorescence components of DOM in the forest soil leachates were identified as humic acid-like DOM, fulvic acid-like DOM and protein-like DOM. The DOM components of BKPF soil leachates were mainly consisted of fulvic acid-like substances with a high humification index. However, the DOM from WBF soil leachates was dominated by humic acid-like substances with low stability, and the three fluorescence components were significantly affected by the freeze-thaw intensity. Results from the redundancy analysis showed that under the experimental conditions, forest type played a leading role in changing DOM properties. The DOM content and its three fluorescence intensities of WBF soil leachates were higher than those of BKPF. Soil moisture significantly affected the aromaticity of DOM in the forest soil leachates, and the DOM aromaticity of soil leachates from the two forest stands ranked as medium moisture > high moisture > low moisture. With the increases of freeze-thaw intensity, the DOM aromaticity of BKPF soil leachates significantly decreased. Furthermore, the increases of freeze-thaw cycles significantly increased the humification degree of DOM in the forest soil leachates. Therefore, upon different freeze-thaw disturbance, the DOM content and bioavailability of soil leachates with low moisture tended to increase, particularly in the WBF soil leachates, which may result in an increased lea-ching of DOM in temperate forest soils during spring freeze-thaw periods. The results provide a refe-rence for further investigating DOM turnover in temperate forest soils during spring freeze-thaw periods.

[Effect of sunlight irradiation on fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter].

Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (3DEEM) was used to investigate the effect of sunlight irradiation on the fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from Lake Hongfeng and Nanming River waters and a commercial fluka humic acid (FHA). The results show that the DOM samples and FHA fluorescence properties changed under sunlight irradiation. Interestingly, the photodegradation characteristics were different between aquatic DOM and FHA. The fluorescence intensity of the apparent peaks A, B and C of lake and river water DOM decreased with sunlight irradiation. The initial 3DEEM of Fluka HA had only one fluorescence peak at lamda ex / lamda em = 275/500 nm, while two fluorescence peaks occurred at lamda ex / lamda em = 245/450 nm and 310/450 nm, respectively, after sunlight irradiation. lamda ex and lamda maxima of DOM decreased during 7 days of sunlight irradiation. Changes in r(A, C) of DOM and FHA with sunlight irradiation time suggest that fluorescence peaks A and C had different fluorescence loss rates, while peak C fluorophores were more susceptible to sunlight irradiation. FHA appeared to be less susceptible to photodegradation, and its r(A, C) remained almost the same before and after sunlight irradiation.

[Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopic characterization of dissolved organic matter].

Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (3DEEM) was applied to characterize the fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in lakes, rivers, streams, and ground waters. The results showed that the 3DEEM of DOM in aquatic environments mainly have four fluorescence peaks: peak A and C was referred to as fulvic-like fluorescence, and peak B and D was referred to as protein-like fluorescence. Results of river water DOM typically showed strong fulvic-like fluorescence. Polluted river waters often showed strong protein-like fluorescence. Four peaks were also found in the 3DEEM of lake DOM, which can origin from terrestrial runoff or from sources within the lakes. In Lake Baihua, strong protein-like fluorescence was found owing to the pollution by municipal wastewaters. Groundwater DOM has relatively lower DOC concentrations at 0.56-0.85 mg x L(-1) and is characterized by fulvic-like fluorescence only if it was polluted by municipal wastewaters, and then it has strong protein-like fluorescence. The authors demonstrate that for all DOM samples, fluorescence intensity at peak C and absorption at 254 nm both showed a strong correlation with DOC concentrations (r2 = 0.82 and 0.95, respectively). Also a strong linear correlation between UV-fulvic-like fluorescence and visible fulvic-like fluorescence was found (r2 = 0.96). The fulvic-like fluorescence at peak A and C varied in accordance to each other with the pH of the DOM samples, and the maximum fluorescence occurred at pH 10, while the maximum value of protein-like fluorescence (peak B) occurred at pH around 8.5.

[Profile characteristics and seasonal variation of dissolved organic matter in Hongfeng Lake, Guizhou].

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) are rarely measured together when studying dissolved organic matter (DOM) in lake water. DOC and DON concentrations were measured for a Karst plateau lake--Hongfeng Lake water for nearly two years. Profile characteristics and seasonal variation of dissolved organic matter were studied, and influencing factors were discussed. The results indicate that DOC concentration ranges from 1.60 mg x L(-1) to 3.08 mg x L(-1), DON ranges from 0.10 mg x L(-1) to 0.37 mg x L(-1) during studying period. DOC and DON concentrations change little from upper layer water to bottom during mixed periods, but show a general tendency for an upward increase during stratification periods. DOC concentration in the surface layer water (0-2 meters or 3 meters) of Hongfeng Lake is greatest from late spring to early summer or in summer, DON concentration is a little higher from late spring to early summer. Comparing the seasonal variation trend of DOC with that of chla and rainfall we draw a conclusion that the bioactivity of algae and DOM input from the watershed directly result in the seasonal variation mode of DOM in surface layer water. The C/N ratio of DOM generally increases with the increase of depth, but this trend changes at HF-S site in summer. At the depth of 12m, DOC and DON concentrations increase with the increase of depth; the C/N ratio of DOM decreases from 18.1 at the depth of 12 m to 14.9 at the depth of 14 m, and decreases continually with the increase of depth. A possible cause is the decomposition of POM, which forms an autochthonous source of DOM.

[Three-dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopic characterization of the complexation between mercury (II) and dissolved organic matter].

With the development of fluorescence technique, three-dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (3DEEM) was widely applied to characterize the nature of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural waters since the last decade. 3DEEM and fluorescence quenching titration were used to study the interaction between Hg(II) and DOM. The results show that a general decrease in intensity for individual peak A, B and C was found as concentrations of Hg(II) increased. pH is the main parameter that strongly influences the Hg(II)-DOM complexation. The addition of Cl- ion to the Hg(II)-DOM system caused an increase in fluorescence intensity. The results also show that the addition of Ca(II) solution strongly enhanced the fluorescence intensity for humic-like fluorescence, while the protein-like fluorescence only slightly enhanced. On the contrary, no fluorescence enhancement was found in the Hg(II)-DOM system after the addition of Mg(II) ion. A decrease in fluorescence emission intensity was found after the addition of Cu(II) ion to the Hg(II)-DOM solution.