Snow can be considered an independent ecosystem that hosts active microbial communities. Snow microbial communities have been extensively investigated in the Arctic and in the Antarctica, but rarely in mid-latitude mountain areas. In this study, we investigated the bacterial communities of snow collected in four glacierized areas (Alps, Eastern Anatolia, Karakoram and Himalaya) by high-throughput DNA sequencing. We also investigated the origin of the air masses that produced the sampled snowfalls by reconstructing back-trajectories. A standardized approach was applied to all the analyses in order to ease comparison among different communities and geographical areas. The bacterial communities hosted from 25 to 211 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), and their structure differed significantly between geographical areas. This suggests that snow bacterial communities may largely derive from 'local' air bacteria, maybe by deposition of airborne particulate of local origin that occurs during snowfall. However, some evidences suggest that a contribution of bacteria collected during air mass uplift to snow communities cannot be excluded, particularly when the air mass that originated the snow event is particularly rich in dust.
Bacterial diversity in snow from mid-latitude mountain areas: Alps, Eastern Anatolia, Karakoram and Himalaya / R.S. Azzoni, I. Tagliaferri, A. Franzetti, C. Mayer, A. Lambrecht, C. Compostella, M. Caccianiga, U.F. Minora, C.A. Garzonio, E. Meraldi, C. Smiraglia, G.A. Diolaiuti, R. Ambrosini. - In: ANNALS OF GLACIOLOGY. - ISSN 0260-3055. - (2018), pp. 1-11. [Epub ahead of print]
Titolo: | Bacterial diversity in snow from mid-latitude mountain areas: Alps, Eastern Anatolia, Karakoram and Himalaya |
Autori: | DIOLAIUTI, GUGLIELMINA ADELE (Penultimo) AMBROSINI, ROBERTO (Ultimo) |
Parole Chiave: | microbiology; mountain glaciers; snow; Earth-Surface Processes |
Settore Scientifico Disciplinare: | Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia Settore BIO/19 - Microbiologia Generale Settore GEO/04 - Geografia Fisica e Geomorfologia |
Data di pubblicazione: | 2018 |
Rivista: | |
Tipologia: | Article (author) |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aog.2018.18 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 01 - Articolo su periodico |
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Azzoni et al. 2018 - Bacterial diversity in snow.pdf | Publisher's version/PDF | Open Access Visualizza/Apri |