Air microbiome raw sequence reads

Bacteria are highly abundant in airborne samples and vary substantially above different terrestrial land use sources. Several studies suggest that the air serves not only as a conduit for dispersing terrestrially-sourced microorganisms, but also as a microbial ecosystem harboring metabolically active bacterial communities. This study was designed to examine how a gradient of impervious surface area located in Kalamazoo County in southwest Michigan influenced airborne bacterial community structure and microbial community function. The results indicate that impervious surface area was not the main land use feature contributing to airborne microbial community variation. Instead, the relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae, related to a proximity to grasslands, best explained variation in bacterial community structure.