Heads in the clouds : marine viruses disperse bidirectionally along the natural water cycle

• Marine viruses have thoroughly been studied in seawater, yet their dispersal from neuston ecosystems at the air-sea interface towards the atmosphere remains a knowledge gap. Here, we show that 6.2 % of the studied virus population were shared between air-sea interface ecosystems and rainwater. Virus enrichment in the 1-mm thin surface microlayer and sea foams happened selectively, and variant analysis proved virus transfer to aerosols and rain. Viruses detected in rain and aerosols showed a significantly higher percent G/C base content compared to marine viruses, and a genetically distinct rain virome supports that those viruses could inhabit higher air masses. CRISPR spacer matches of marine prokaryotes to foreign viruses from rainwater prove regular virus-host encounters at the air-sea interface. Our findings on aerosolization and long-range atmospheric dispersal implicate virus-mediated carbon turnover in remote areas, viral dispersal mechanisms relevant to human health, and involvement of viruses in atmospheric processes like ice-nucleation.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Mikrobiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Microbiology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Miljövetenskap

Environmental Science

Mikrobiologi

Microbiology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)