Apr 27, 2023
Scientists discover antibiotic resistance genes in clouds
by Laval Univ.
...To observe this phenomenon, the team sampled clouds at the Puy de Dôme summit, a dormant volcano in France's Massif Central. At an atmospheric research station perched 1,465 meters above ground, the scientists conducted 12 cloud sampling sessions over 2 yrs using high-flow rate "vacuums."
Analysis of these samples revealed that they contained about 8,000 bacteria per milliliter of cloud water, on average...
...With all their data, the scientists measured the concentration of 29 subtypes of antibiotic-resistance genes carried in atmospheric air masses. The clouds contained, on average, 20,800 copies of antibiotic-resistance genes per milliliter of cloud water.
"Oceanic clouds and continental clouds each have their signature of antibiotic resistance genes. For example, continental clouds contain more antibiotic resistance genes used in animal production," explains Florent Rossi (postdoctoral fellow in the team of Caroline Duchaine, a prof. at Université Laval's Faculty of Science & Engineering & a researcher at the Quebec Heart & Lung Institute-Université Laval.)...

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-scientists-antibiotic-resistance-genes-clouds.html

Florent Rossi et al, Quantification of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in clouds at a mountain site (puy de Dôme, central France), Science of The Total Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161264