Saharan dust alters the microbial community structure of near surface marine aerosols following trans-Atlantic transport

Globally, deserts contribute a vast amount of dust into the atmosphere where it is transported across long distances before being deposited in terrestrial or aquatic environments. Microbes make up an important part of these dust aerosols and can impact the ecosystems where they are deposited, including acting as infectious agents or altering microbial communities. Many of these dust-associated microorganisms are stress-resistant, robust, and capable of persisting in foreign environments and as such may contribute to ecological processes in area where they are introduced. As climate change leads to increases in desertification, the long-distance transport of these microorganisms will become more pronounced. Here we show that Saharan dust events result in significant changes to the near-surface aerosol communities in the tropical western Atlantic (Florida Keys), which may in turn affect microbial processes in marine surface waters where these aerosols are deposited.