King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Genome Biol Evol. 2018 Aug 1;10(8):1970-1987. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evy134.
Dust and sandstorm events inject substantial quantities of foreign microorganisms into global ecosystems, with the ability to impact distant environments. The majority of these microorganisms originate from deserts and drylands where the soil is laden with highly stress-resistant microbes capable of thriving under extreme environmental conditions, and a substantial portion of them survive long journeys through the atmosphere. This large-scale transmission of highly resilient alien microbial contaminants raises concerns with regards to the invasion of sensitive and/or pristine sink environments, and to human health-concerns exacerbated by increases in the rate of desertification. Further increases in the transport of dust-associated microbiota could extend the spread of foreign microbes to new ecosystems, increase their load in present sink environments, disrupt ecosystem balance, and potentially introduce new pathogens. Our present understanding of these microorganisms, their phylogenic affiliations and functional significance, is insufficient to determine their impact. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of available data regarding dust and sandstorm microbiota and their potential ramifications on human and ecosystem health. We conclude by discussing current gaps in dust and sandstorm microbiota research, and the need for collaborative studies involving high-resolution meta-omic approaches in conjunction with extensive ecological time-series studies to advance the field towards an improved and sufficient understanding of these invisible atmospheric travelers and their global ramifications.
沙尘暴事件将大量外来微生物注入全球生态系统，有可能影响到遥远的环境。这些微生物大多数来源于沙漠和干旱地区，土壤中充满了高度抗逆的微生物，它们能够在极端环境条件下生存，其中很大一部分微生物在穿越大气层的长途旅行中幸存下来。这种大规模传播高度有弹性的外来微生物污染物，引起了人们对敏感和/或原始汇环境的入侵以及由荒漠化速度加快而加剧的人类健康问题的担忧。与灰尘相关的微生物组的进一步传输可能会将外来微生物的传播范围扩大到新的生态系统，增加它们在现有汇环境中的负荷，破坏生态系统平衡，并可能引入新的病原体。我们目前对这些微生物的了解，包括它们的系统发育关系和功能意义，不足以确定它们的影响。本综述的目的是提供有关灰尘和沙尘暴微生物组及其对人类和生态系统健康潜在影响的现有数据概述。最后，我们讨论了当前灰尘和沙尘暴微生物组研究中的差距，以及需要进行合作研究，采用高分辨率元组学方法结合广泛的生态时间序列研究，以推动该领域朝着更好地理解这些看不见的大气旅行者及其全球影响的方向发展。
