The marine macroalgae Ulva sp. is considered an ecosystem engineer in rocky shores of temperate waters worldwide. Ulva sp. harbors a rich diversity of associated microbial epibionts, which are known to affect the algae's typical morphological development and ‘health’. We examined the interaction between airborne microbes derived from atmospheric aerosols and Ulva ohnoi growth and physiological state. Specifically, we measured U. ohnoi growth rates and photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm), alongside its microbial epibionts abundance, activity and diversity following dust (containing nutrients and airborne microorganisms) or UV-treated dust (only nutrients) amendments to filtered seawater. Parallel incubations with epibionts-free U. ohnoi (treated with antibiotics that removed the algae epibionts) were also tested to specifically examine if dust-borne microbes can replenish the epibiont community of U. ohnoi. We show that viable airborne microbes can restore U. ohnoi natural microbial epibionts communities, thereby keeping the seaweed alive and ‘healthy’. These results suggest that microbes delivered through atmospheric aerosols can affect epiphyte biodiversity in marine flora, especially in areas subjected to high annual atmospheric dust deposition such as the Mediterranean Sea.

中文翻译：

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尘埃传播的微生物会影响大头鱼的生长和生理状态

海洋大型藻类Ulva sp。他被认为是全球温带水域多岩石海岸的生态系统工程师。Ulva sp。含有丰富的相关微生物表皮微生物，已知它们会影响藻类的典型形态发育和“健康”。我们检查了来自大气气溶胶的空气传播的微生物与大叶石楠的生长和生理状态之间的相互作用。具体来说，我们测量了大隐藻的生长速率和光合效率（Fv / Fm），以及除尘（含有养分和空气传播的微生物）或经紫外线处理的除尘（仅养分）对过滤后的海水进行修正后，其微生物表观生物的丰度，活性和多样性。与自由epibion​​ts平行孵育U. ohnoi（与除去藻类epibion​​ts抗生素治疗）也进行了测试，以检查具体如果灰尘源性微生物可补充的epibion​​t社区U. ohnoi。我们证明了可行的空气传播微生物可以恢复大野U天然微生物的生物群落，从而使海藻存活并“健康”。这些结果表明，通过大气气溶胶传递的微生物会影响海洋植物群中的附生生物多样性，尤其是在每年发生高尘埃沉积的地区，例如地中海。