Created August 2015. Updated December 2016. Also see my page with papers on the indoor air and surface microbiome.

Bacteria in snow and rain

Dust Rains Deliver Diverse Assemblages of Microorganisms to the Eastern Mediterranean – Ghida Nouhad Itani – Scientific Reports – March 2016

Characterization of airborne ice-nucleation-active bacteria and bacterial fragments – Tina Šantl-Temkiv – Atmospheric Environment – May 2015

Ubiquity of Biological Ice Nucleators in Snowfall – Brent C. Christner – Science – 2008

Spora and Gaia: how microbes fly with their clouds – W.D. Hamilton – Ethology Ecology & Evolution – 1998

Bacteria in dust 

Variations in the structure of airborne bacterial communities in Tsogt-Ovoo of Gobi desert area during dust events – Teruya Maki – Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health – August 2016

Airborne bacteria in the atmosphere: Presence, purpose, and potential – Wenke Smets – Atmospheric Environment – August 2016

The effect of dust storms on the atmospheric microbiome in the Eastern Mediterranean – Yinon Mazar – Environmental Science & Technology – April 2016

Assessment of microbial communities in PM1 and PM10 of Urumqi during winter – Huange Gou – Environmental Pollution – April 2016

Airborne and Grain Dust Fungal Community Compositions Are Shaped Regionally by Plant Genotypes and Farming Practices – Loïc Pellissier – Applied and Environmental Microbiology – January 2016

Airborne Microalgae: Insights, Opportunities, and Challenges – Sylvie V. M. Tesson – Applied and Environmental Microbiology – January 2016

Vertical distribution of airborne bacterial communities in an Asian-dust downwind area, Noto Peninsula – Teruya Maki – Atmospheric Environment – October 2015

Chamber Bioaerosol Study: Outdoor Air and Human Occupants as Sources of Indoor Airborne Microbes – Rachel I. Adams – PLOS ONE – May 2015

Continental-scale distributions of dust-associated bacteria and fungi – Albert Barberán – PNAS – April 2015

Structure, inter-annual recurrence, and global-scale connectivity of airborne microbial communities – Albert Barberán – Science of the Total Environment – July 2014

Collecting Micro-Organisms From The Arctic Atmosphere – Charles A. Lindbergh – The Scientific Monthly – January 1935

Techniques

Optimized DNA extraction and metagenomic sequencing of airborne microbial communities – Wenjun Jiang – Nature Protocols – April 2015

Review papers

Approach of molecular methods for the detection and monitoring of microbial communities in bioaerosols: A review – Keunje Yoo – Journal of Environmental Sciences – July 2016

Popular press papers

Raining Cats and Dogs… and Bacteria? – uBiome Blog – November 2016

The Rain-Making Bacteria – Jay Hardy – Hardy Diagnostics – May 2016

Living Bacteria Are Riding Earth’s Air Currents – Jim Morrison – Smithsonian – January 2016

Bacteria in the atmosphere cause rain – Science Nordic – 2015

‘Rain-making’ bacteria found around the world. Some microbes are frequent flyers in clouds – Quirin Schiermeier – Nature – 2008

Rain makers: How high-flying bacteria could control the clouds – Kate Ravilious – New Scientist