Characterization of bacterial communities during persistent fog and haze events in the Qingdao coastal region

Highlights

• Light haze had little effect on bacterial communities.

• Fog and heavy haze had significant effects on these communities.

• Air pollution exerted a greater influence than particle size on bacterial community.

Abstract

Here, we report the characteristics of bacterial communities in aerosols with different particle sizes during two persistent fog and haze events in December of 2015 and 2016 in Qingdao, China. In the early stage of pollution, the accumulation of PM_2.5 led to the accumulation of microorganisms, thus increasing the bacterial richness and diversity of fine particle sizes. With the persistence and aggravation of pollution, the toxic effect was strengthened, and the bacterial richness and diversity of each particle size decreased. When the particle concentration was highest, the richness and diversity were low for each particle size. Light haze had little influence on bacterial communities. The occurrence of highly polluted humid weather and heavy haze resulted in significant changes in bacterial community diversity, composition and structure, and air pollution exerted a greater influence than particle size on bacterial community structure. During persistent fog and haze events, with the increase of pollutants, bacteria associated with each particle size may be extensively involved in aerosol chemistry, but the degree of participation varies, which requires further study.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Bacterial community / Persistent fog and haze / Particle size

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41775148), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (No. 201762006), and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (No. ZR2016CB47).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1334-x and is accessible for authorized users.

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