New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud

Date:
January 23, 2013
Source:
Public Library of Science
Summary:
It isn't life on Mars, but researchers have found a rich diversity of microbial life and chemicals in the ephemeral habitat of a storm cloud, according to a new study.
Share:
FULL STORY

It isn't life on Mars, but researchers have found a rich diversity of microbial life and chemicals in the ephemeral habitat of a storm cloud, according to a study published January 23 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Tina Šantl Temkiv and colleagues from Aarhus University, Denmark.

The researchers analyzed hailstones recovered after a storm in May 2009 and found that they carried several species of bacteria typically found on plants and almost 3000 different compounds usually found in soil. However, the hailstones had very few soil-associated bacteria or chemicals that would usually occur in plants. Three of the bacterial species discovered were found in most of the hailstones studied, and may represent 'typical' cloud inhabitants, the study reports.

According to the authors, this selective enrichment of certain plant bacteria and soil chemicals in the hailstones reveals how specific processes during the lifetime of a cloud may impact certain bacteria more than others. They suggest that these processes could affect the long-distance transport and geographical distribution of microbes on Earth.

"When we started these analyses, we were hoping to arrive at a merely descriptive characterization of the bacterial community in an unexplored habitat. But what we found was indirect evidence for life processes in the atmosphere, such as bacterial selection and growth," says Ulrich Gosewinkel Karlson, leader of the aeromicrobiology research group at Aarhus University.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Public Library of Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Tina Šantl-Temkiv, Kai Finster, Thorsten Dittmar, Bjarne Munk Hansen, Runar Thyrhaug, Niels Woetmann Nielsen, Ulrich Gosewinkel Karlson. Hailstones: A Window into the Microbial and Chemical Inventory of a Storm Cloud. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e53550 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053550

Cite This Page:

Public Library of Science. "Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 January 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123195252.htm>.
Public Library of Science. (2013, January 23). Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123195252.htm
Public Library of Science. "Hailstones reveal life in a storm cloud." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123195252.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES