Spore forming bacteria isolated from atmospheric aerosols in Southwestern Siberia during atmospheric transfer of air masses

Monitoring of near-surface and high-altitude samples of atmospheric aerosols has been performed on the territory of Novosibirsk region since 1998. This study presents the diversity and enzymatic activity of spore-forming bacteria isolated in the autumn of 2016 from high-altitude and near-ground samples obtained during monitoring of viable microorganisms in the atmospheric aerosols of Southwestern Siberia. A significant predominance of spore-forming bacteria over representatives of other microorganism groups was recorded during this period. This phenomenon might have been caused by a typical for the studied region influence of the southwestern wind, which carries dust particles from the steppes and deserts of Central Asia. These particles are usually contaminated with a large number of endospore forming bacteria. Biochemical and physiological features of the isolated spore forming bacteria were studied, their genomic identification was performed, and their enzymatic activity was determined...