Cloudy with a chance of microbes

摘要

Knowledge about microbial and other ice nucleators (IN) in the atmosphere is fundamental to understanding ice phase precipitation and the radiative balance on Earth. Independent research groups, one consisting of atmospheric physicists and the other of microbiologists, independently discovered ice nucleating bacteria during the 1970s. A number of bacteria are known to produce similar ice-nucleating proteins that bind water efficiently and may explain their superiority as IN over dust particles. While borne in clouds and dispersed widely by atmospheric currents, a large abundance of Ice microorganisms would be expected to influence freezing and the processes which lead to precipitation. Despite growing knowledge and interest, the microbiota of the atmosphere remains a relatively unexplored frontier that appears ripe for further discovery.