Variability of the atmospheric PM10 microbiome in three climatic regions of France

Air pollution is a major public-health concern and it is recognized that particulate matter causes damage to human health through oxidative-stress, being responsible for several million premature deaths worldwide each year. Recent findings showed that, airborne microorganisms/spores can modulate aerosol toxicity by altering the oxidative potential of PM10. Primary Biogenic Organic Aerosols (PBOA) appears to be produced by only few genera of microorganisms, emitted by surrounding vegetation in the case of a regionally-homogeneous field site. This study presents the first comprehensive description of the structure and main sources of airborne microbial communities associated with the temporal trends in PM10 SC concentrations at 3 French sites, under different climates. By combining sugar chemistry and DNA Metabarcoding approaches, we intended to identify PM10-associated microbial communities and their main sources at three climatically different sampling-sites in France during summer 2018...