ArticleMicrobiome2017
Legal immigrants: invasion of alien microbial communities during winter occurring desert dust storms.
Article in Microbiome, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infectious Diseases Associated with Desert Dust Outbreaks: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of climate change on occupational health and productivity: a systematic literature review focusing on workplace heat.La Medicina del lavoro · 2018Pooled it
- Sources and traits of bacteria and fungi found in the near-surface atmosphere.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Metagenomic Profiling of Soil Microbiomes and Resistomes in Arid Ecosystems of Kuwait.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Looking for Pathogens in Dust from North Africa Arriving in the French West Indies Using Metabarcoding and Cultivable Analysis.Microorganisms · 2024Article
- Strong Saharan Dust Deposition Events Alter Microbial Diversity and Composition in Sediments of High-Mountain Lakes of Sierra Nevada (Spain).Microbial ecology · 2024Article
- Drivers and consequences of microbial community coalescence.The ISME journal · 2024Review
- The Microbiome of Things: Appliances, Machines, and Devices Hosting Artificial Niche-Adapted Microbial Communities.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- A comparative approach to confirm antibiotic-resistant microbes in the cryosphere.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- The waterbodies of the halo-volcanic Dallol complex: earth analogs to guide us, where to look for life in the universe.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- The aeromicrobiome: the selective and dynamic outer-layer of the Earth's microbiome.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Review
- Assessment of the association between dust storms and COVID-19 infection rate in southwest Iran.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Article
- Article
- Diversity and bioprospecting for industrial hydrolytic enzymes of microbial communities isolated from deserted areas of south-east Morocco.AIMS microbiology · 2022Article
- Bacterial Colonisation: From Airborne Dispersal to Integration Within the Soil Community.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Gone with the Wind: Microbial Communities Associated with Dust from Emissive Farmlands.Microbial ecology · 2021Article
- Possible Roles of Permafrost Melting, Atmospheric Transport, and Solar Irradiance in the Development of Major Coronavirus and Influenza Pandemics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Multi-Scale Airborne Infectious Disease Transmission.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2021Review
- A Perspective of the Cumulative Risks from Climate Change on Mt. Everest: Findings from the 2019 Expedition.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA critical aspect regarding the global dispersion of pathogenic microorganisms is associated with atmospheric movement of soil particles. Especially, desert dust storms can transport alien microorganisms over continental scales and can deposit them in sensitive sink habitats. In winter 2014, the largest ever recorded Saharan dust event in Italy was efficiently deposited on the Dolomite Alps and was sealed between dust-free snow. This provided us the unique opportunity to overcome difficulties in separating dust associated from "domestic" microbes and thus, to determine with high precision microorganisms transported exclusively by desert dust.
resultsOur metagenomic analysis revealed that sandstorms can move not only fractions but rather large parts of entire microbial communities far away from their area of origin and that this microbiota contains several of the most stress-resistant organisms on Earth, including highly destructive fungal and bacterial pathogens. In particular, we provide first evidence that winter-occurring dust depositions can favor a rapid microbial contamination of sensitive sink habitats after snowmelt.
conclusionsAirborne microbial depositions accompanying extreme meteorological events represent a realistic threat for ecosystem and public health. Therefore, monitoring the spread and persistence of storm-travelling alien microbes is a priority while considering future trajectories of climatic anomalies as well as anthropogenically driven changes in land use in the source regions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.