The hitchhiker’s guide to bacterial transport: Viable airborne microbes across the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

The atmosphere plays a fundamental role in the transport of bio-aerosols across the oceans, and yet it is understudied as a microbial habitat and ecological vector. Specifically, little is known about the environmental and biological factors that govern bacterial viability (survival) during transport and once deposited in the surface oceans. Here, I will present some of our recent work that investigates the role and spatial distribution of viable prokaryotes in dust aerosols and in freshly emitted sea-spray aerosols across the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The viability of airborne prokaryotes in sea spray ranged from 5-30% with a higher viability found in algal-richer stations than in oligotrophic settings. Additionally, airborne microbes in dust\aerosols deposited in seawater contribute to primary and bacterial production, N₂ fixation and viral infections. These results provide new insights into prokaryote viability in marine aerosols, emphasizing the need for further research on long-term survival and ecological roles of aerosolized microbes.