Airborne Microalgae: Insights, Opportunities, and Challenges

• Sylvie V. M. Tesson ^[1] ; Carsten Ambelas Skjøth ^[2] ; Tina Šantl-Temkiv ^[3] ; Jakob Löndahl ^[3]
  1. [1] University of Gothenburg

     University of Gothenburg

     Suecia

     
  2. [2] University of Worcester

     University of Worcester

     Worcester District, Reino Unido

     
  3. [3] Lund University

     Lund University

     Suecia

     

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• Localización: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, ISSN 0099-2240, Vol. 82, Nº 7, 2016, págs. 1978-1991
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Airborne dispersal of microalgae has largely been a blind spot in environmental biological studies because of their low concentration in the atmosphere and the technical limitations in investigating microalgae from air samples. Recent studies show that airborne microalgae can survive air transportation and interact with the environment, possibly influencing their deposition rates. This minireview presents a summary of these studies and traces the possible route, step by step, from established ecosystems to new habitats through air transportation over a variety of geographic scales. Emission, transportation, deposition, and adaptation to atmospheric stress are discussed, as well as the consequences of their dispersal on health and the environment and state-of-the-art techniques to detect and model airborne microalga dispersal. More-detailed studies on the microalga atmospheric cycle, including, for instance, ice nucleation activity and transport simulations, are crucial for improving our understanding of microalga ecology, identifying microalga interactions with the environment, and preventing unwanted contamination events or invasions.