Issue 2, 2024

Nycterohemeral airborne fungal and bacterial communities and health risks of potential pathogens in Shanghai

Abstract

Urbanization-influenced airborne microorganisms and megacity bioaerosols have garnered particular attention due to their importance in the atmospheric environment. Herein, the diurnal variation of airborne microbes in PM2.5 between day and night was unveiled by a culture-independent approach and morphological analyses. The results demonstrated that airborne fungi, with values of 8636 copies per m3 (daytime) and 9443 copies per m3 (nighttime), and bacteria, with values of 38 725 copies per m3 (daytime) and 38 613 copies per m3 (nighttime), were observed under improved air quality. The recurrent diel cycle's airborne fungal and bacterial concentrations had no discernible difference. The airborne microbial community structure displayed robustness, in which Formitopsidaceae, Meruliaceae, Aspergillaceae, Rhizobiaceae, Caulobacteraceae, and Moraxellaceae dominated. The LefSE analysis revealed Sistotrema, Moesziomyces and Acinetobacter as diurnal biomarkers and Cercospora and Blastomonas as nocturnal biomarkers. In assessing the health risks of potential pathogens, the nocturnal samples contained a higher fungal relative abundance (38.52%), and diurnal samples had a higher proportion of potentially pathogenic bacteria (21.92%). SO2 inhibited the fungal concentrations significantly. The observation of fungi by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) revealed the intact cell structure presumably annotated to Basidiomycota and Ascomycota and acted as the independent atmospheric particle matters of which surface harboured chemical composition. This study offers important insights into airborne fungi and bacteria in metropolitan cities, coupled with high throughput sequencing technologies and morphological observation under low PM2.5 concentration.

Graphical abstract: Nycterohemeral airborne fungal and bacterial communities and health risks of potential pathogens in Shanghai

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 sep 2023
Accepted
20 dec 2023
First published
25 dec 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2024,4, 190-201

Nycterohemeral airborne fungal and bacterial communities and health risks of potential pathogens in Shanghai

X. Geng, C. Nie, H. Chen, X. Tang, M. Wei, Y. Wang, H. Gao, D. Li, M. Fang, R. Ju, B. Li, H. Kan, R. Chen, J. Zhao, L. Wang and J. Chen, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2024, 4, 190 DOI: 10.1039/D3EA00141E

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