Articles | Volume 20, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1777-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1777-2020
Research article
 | 
14 Feb 2020
Research article |  | 14 Feb 2020

The global impact of bacterial processes on carbon mass

Barbara Ervens and Pierre Amato

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Cited articles

Amato, P. and Christner, B. C.: Energy metabolism response to low-temperature and frozen conditions in Psychrobacter cryohalolentis, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 75, 711–718, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02193-08, 2009. 
Amato, P., Demeer, F., Melaouhi, A., Fontanella, S., Martin-Biesse, A. S., Sancelme, M., Laj, P., and Delort, A. M.: A fate for organic acids, formaldehyde and methanol in cloud water: their biotransformation by micro-organisms, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 4159–4169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-4159-2007, 2007a. 
Amato, P., Parazols, M., Sancelme, M., Laj, P., Mailhot, G., and Delort, A.-M.: Microorganisms isolated from the water phase of tropospheric clouds at the Puy de Dôme: major groups and growth abilities at low temperatures, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 59, 242–254, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00199.x, 2007b. 
Amato, P., Doyle, S., and Christner, B. C.: Macromolecular synthesis by yeasts under frozen conditions, Environ. Microbiol., 11, 589–596, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01829.x, 2009. 
Amato, P., Doyle, S. M., Battista, J. R., and Christner, B. C.: Implications of Subzero Metabolic Activity on Long-Term Microbial Survival in Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Permafrost, Astrobiology, 10, 789–798, https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0477, 2010. 
Short summary
Bacteria in the atmosphere are important due to their potential adverse health effects and as initiators of ice cloud formation. Observational studies suggest that bacterial cells grow and multiply in clouds and also consume organic compounds. We estimate the role of microbial processes in the atmosphere for (i) the increase in biological aerosol mass by cell growth and multiplication and (ii) the sink strength of organics in clouds as a loss process in addition to chemical reactions.
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