Jiang Tong, Guo Cui, Yu Hao, Wang Ziyue, Zheng Kaiyang, Zhang Xinran, Tang Siyuan, Wang Chuxiao, Shao Hongbing, Zhang Chao, Liang Yantao, Kong Liangliang, Gao Huiwang, McMinn Andrew, Wang Min
College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China; Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, MoE Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Center for Ocean Carbon Neutrality, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China; UMT-OUC Joint Centre for Marine Studies, Qingdao, China.
Environ Int. 2025 Mar;197:109359. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109359. Epub 2025 Mar 2.
The transmission of viruses through aerosols is of growing public health concern, yet research on aerosol-associated viral communities lags behind that of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Here, DNA viral diversity in natural aerosols from both over land and ocean in the East Asia region was examined. The results showed that atmospheric environments harbor a distinct viral community that differs from those present in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. A comparison of aerosol samples from different locations revealed that aerosol viruses are strongly influenced by altitude and their sources. Fragments of viruses that can infect pathogenic bacteria, as well as pathogenic viruses (such as herpesviruses, Inoviruses, and Iridovirus) were detected. Anthropogenically-influenced land aerosol samples contained viral communities with greater richness and diversity as well as a higher relative abundance of pathogenic and lytic viruses compared to pristine marine airborne samples. Furthermore, habitat-specific auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) were observed, such as the phosphate regulon (phoH), which was more prevalent in ocean aerosol samples and regulates phosphate uptake under low-phosphate conditions, thereby assisting viral hosts in overcoming metabolic challenges in different environmental conditions. This study highlights the ecological distinctness of the airborne viral community and the interconnectedness between those from land, sea, and atmosphere, underscoring the importance of evaluating their potential pathogenicity in future research.
病毒通过气溶胶传播日益引起公众对健康的关注，然而，对与气溶胶相关的病毒群落的研究落后于陆地和水生生态系统。在此，研究了东亚地区陆地和海洋上空自然气溶胶中的DNA病毒多样性。结果表明，大气环境中存在一个与陆地和水生生态系统中不同的独特病毒群落。对不同地点气溶胶样本的比较显示，气溶胶病毒受海拔高度及其来源的强烈影响。检测到了可感染致病细菌的病毒片段以及致病病毒（如疱疹病毒、丝状病毒和虹彩病毒）。与原始海洋空气传播样本相比，受人为影响的陆地气溶胶样本中的病毒群落具有更高的丰富度和多样性，以及更高的致病和裂解病毒相对丰度。此外，还观察到了特定栖息地的辅助代谢基因（AMG），如磷酸调节子（phoH），其在海洋气溶胶样本中更为普遍，并在低磷条件下调节磷的吸收，从而帮助病毒宿主克服不同环境条件下的代谢挑战。这项研究突出了空气传播病毒群落的生态独特性以及陆地、海洋和大气中病毒群落之间的相互联系，强调了在未来研究中评估其潜在致病性的重要性。
