INVESTIGATION OF MICROBIOTA IN ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS DURING LIDAR MONITORING OF HIGHLY URBANIZED AREA IN SOFIA CITY
B. ANGELOVA1*, R. ILIEVA1, M. ILIEV1, I. NEDKOV2, D. STOYANOV2, V. GROUDEVA1
1Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria;
2Institute of electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
*Corresponding author: boyankaaa@gmail.com
Keywords: LIDAR monitoring, bioaerosols, particulate matter (PM)
Abstract: The air quality in fine particle matters polluted areas in Sofia city became a serious problem in the last few years. The microbial fractions (bioaerosols) associated with particulate matter (PM) is also very important for air quality. The purpose of the present study was to conduct microbiological analysis of airborne microbiota in outlined by LIDAR characteristic zones of increased concentration of aerosol pollutants using classical taxonomy and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis.
The LIDAR mapping was performed by the two-wavelength LIDAR system developed at the Laser Radar Laboratory (LRL) of the IE-BAS that is capable of scanning the horizontal aerosol distributions and the vertical long-distance transport of air masses. LIDAR beam was directed to Tsarigradsko shose blvd. and the samples were collected from three location points – Sofia Tech Park, Orlov most and Dragan Tsankov Blvd. A Hygitest 106 (Maimex) for air sampling as well as Koch sedimentation method were used for collection of the samples. Four different filters (Gelatin, Cellulose-ester, Polymer-fibrous and Glass fibrous) and different elective media were used to enumerate and identify the isolates.
The results obtained showed dominant presence of genera Bacillus, Erwinia, Acidovorax, Enterobacter, Arthrobacter, Streptomyces, Kocuria and Rathayibacter. Opportunistic pathogens were established among the isolates, such as Bacillus cereus, Bacillus pumilus, Enterobacter aerogenes and Erwinia herbicola. In all samples, the fungi from genera Penicillium and Aspergillus were permanently present. The combined approach based on LIDAR mapping and adapted sampling procedures allowed accurate assessment of the microbial aerosols diversity, as well as determination of the target groups of microorganisms posing health risks.