Diversity of bacteria in cloud water collected at a National Atmospheric Monitoring Station in Southern China

Abstract

Bacteria in the atmosphere affect human health and atmospheric characteristics, however, few studies have investigated bacteria in high altitude areas in China, especially in clouds and fog. In this study, the bacterial community structures of three cloud water samples, collected at the Nanling national atmospheric monitoring station (112°53′56″E, 24°41′56″N) in China, were studied by combining culture-based approach and high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that the dominant bacteria in cloud water samples were Proteobacteria (71.36%), followed by Actinobacteria (21.72%) and bacteroidetes (6.43%), but bacterial species identified using a culture-based approach were <1% of the total bacteria. NO2, SO42−, and pH value were related to the community structures of bacterial, indicating anthropogenic emissions possibly enhanced the variety of bacterial communities in cloud water.