Microbial communities at the sea-air interface of the North Atlantic Ocean

Microbial communities at the ocean-atmosphere interface were collected along a 14,400 km transect from the polar circle to the equator in the North Atlantic Ocean. Communities were analyzed using the v4-v5 region of the 16S rRNA gene sequenced (primers 515F, 924R). Air and surface ocean microbiomes were taxonomically distinct, sharing few species-level lineages. Terrestrial-derived air masses caused shifts in the air and water microbial communities.