Microbial diversity in atmospheric precipitation from May to August

This project investigates the microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) in atmospheric precipitation collected from May to August in Baotou, China - a typical heavy-industry city in an arid/semi-arid region. By integrating high-throughput amplicon sequencing (16S and ITS rRNA genes) with detailed chemical analysis, we aimed to decipher how the unique "sand-dust-agriculture-industry" composite pollution shapes the precipitation microbiome. Our findings reveal that microbial assembly is primarily stochastic, driven by distinct monthly variations in ion composition (e.g., Ca2+, NH4+, SO42-), and identify a fungal-dominated profile of potential pathogens, providing new insights into atmospheric ecology and public health risks in industrial cities.