Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes

Ricardo H. M. Godoi; Emerson L. Y. Hara; Bruna G. Sebben; Philip E. Taylor; Dulcilena M. Castro e Silva; Sebastian Brill; Valter B. Duo Filho; Glaucio Valdameri; Luciano F. Huergo; Rosaria R. Ferreira; Cléo Q. Dias-Junior; Maurício C. Mantoani; Fábio L. T. Gonçalves; Rachel I. Albrecht; Nurun N. Lata; Gregory Vandergrift; Swarup China; Carlos I. Yamamoto; Rodrigo F. C. Marques; Rodolfo D. Piazza; Rodrigo A. F. Souza; Theotonio Pauliquevis; Paulo Artaxo; Luiz A. T. Machado; Heitor Evangelista; Jéssica C. dos Santos-Silva; Sanja Potgieter-Vermaak; Subha S. Raj; Christopher Pöhlker; Jens Weber; Bettina Weber; Laudemir C. Varanda; Ivan Kourtchev; Scot T. Martin; Ulrich Pöschl; Meinrat O. Andreae

doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4

Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes

Ricardo H. M. Godoi
, Emerson L. Y. Hara
, Bruna G. Sebben
, Philip E. Taylor
, Dulcilena M. Castro e Silva
, Sebastian Brill
, Valter B. Duo Filho
, Glaucio Valdameri
, Luciano F. Huergo
, Rosaria R. Ferreira
, Cléo Q. Dias-Junior
, Maurício C. Mantoani
, Fábio L. T. Gonçalves
, Rachel I. Albrecht
, Nurun N. Lata
, Gregory Vandergrift
, Swarup China
, Carlos I. Yamamoto
, Rodrigo F. C. Marques
, Rodolfo D. Piazza

Rodrigo A. F. Souza, Theotonio Pauliquevis, Paulo Artaxo, Luiz A. T. Machado, Heitor Evangelista, Jéssica C. dos Santos-Silva, Sanja Potgieter-Vermaak, Subha S. Raj, Christopher Pöhlker, Jens Weber, Bettina Weber, Laudemir C. Varanda, Ivan Kourtchev, Scot T. Martin, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae

Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Fog formation over tropical forests remains poorly characterized, despite its potential role in bioaerosol dispersion and ecosystem processes. Here, we analyzed fog samples collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory using flow cytometry and culture-based techniques to characterize viable microbial communities. Microbial cell concentrations varied over an order of magnitude across 13 fog events, reaching up to 8 × 104 cells per ml of fog water. Flow cytometry consistently detected metabolically active cells, while culturing and mass spectrometry-based identification yielded eight viable bacterial species and seven fungal taxa. The bacteria Serratia marcescens, Ralstonia pickettii and Sphingomonas paucimobilis exhibited seasonal variations in prevalence. The fungal species identified were primarily mesophilic saprophytes and endophytes, commonly associated with soil and plant surfaces. Our findings indicate that fog harbors viable microbes, including Serratia marcescens and Ralstonia pickettii, which may imply a relevance of fog for microbial dispersal, colonization and nutrient cycling in the Amazon rainforest.

Original language	English
Article number	223
Journal	Communications Earth & Environment
Volume	7
Issue number	1
Early online date	3 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 3 Feb 2026

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence,unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

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Godoi, R. H. M., Hara, E. L. Y., Sebben, B. G., Taylor, P. E., Castro e Silva, D. M., Brill, S., Duo Filho, V. B., Valdameri, G., Huergo, L. F., Ferreira, R. R., Dias-Junior, C. Q., Mantoani, M. C., Gonçalves, F. L. T., Albrecht, R. I., Lata, N. N., Vandergrift, G., China, S., Yamamoto, C. I., Marques, R. F. C., ... Andreae, M. O. (2026). Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes. Communications Earth & Environment, 7(1), Article 223. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4

Godoi, RHM, Hara, ELY, Sebben, BG, Taylor, PE, Castro e Silva, DM, Brill, S, Duo Filho, VB, Valdameri, G, Huergo, LF, Ferreira, RR, Dias-Junior, CQ, Mantoani, MC, Gonçalves, FLT, Albrecht, RI, Lata, NN, Vandergrift, G, China, S, Yamamoto, CI, Marques, RFC, Piazza, RD, Souza, RAF, Pauliquevis, T, Artaxo, P, Machado, LAT, Evangelista, H, dos Santos-Silva, JC, Potgieter-Vermaak, S, Raj, SS, Pöhlker, C, Weber, J, Weber, B, Varanda, LC, Kourtchev, I, Martin, ST, Pöschl, U & Andreae, MO 2026, 'Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes', Communications Earth & Environment, vol. 7, no. 1, 223. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4

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title = "Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes",

abstract = "Fog formation over tropical forests remains poorly characterized, despite its potential role in bioaerosol dispersion and ecosystem processes. Here, we analyzed fog samples collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory using flow cytometry and culture-based techniques to characterize viable microbial communities. Microbial cell concentrations varied over an order of magnitude across 13 fog events, reaching up to 8 × 104 cells per ml of fog water. Flow cytometry consistently detected metabolically active cells, while culturing and mass spectrometry-based identification yielded eight viable bacterial species and seven fungal taxa. The bacteria Serratia marcescens, Ralstonia pickettii and Sphingomonas paucimobilis exhibited seasonal variations in prevalence. The fungal species identified were primarily mesophilic saprophytes and endophytes, commonly associated with soil and plant surfaces. Our findings indicate that fog harbors viable microbes, including Serratia marcescens and Ralstonia pickettii, which may imply a relevance of fog for microbial dispersal, colonization and nutrient cycling in the Amazon rainforest.",

author = "Godoi, \{Ricardo H. M.\} and Hara, \{Emerson L. Y.\} and Sebben, \{Bruna G.\} and Taylor, \{Philip E.\} and \{Castro e Silva\}, \{Dulcilena M.\} and Sebastian Brill and \{Duo Filho\}, \{Valter B.\} and Glaucio Valdameri and Huergo, \{Luciano F.\} and Ferreira, \{Rosaria R.\} and Dias-Junior, \{Cl{\'e}o Q.\} and Mantoani, \{Maur{\'i}cio C.\} and Gon{\c c}alves, \{F{\'a}bio L. T.\} and Albrecht, \{Rachel I.\} and Lata, \{Nurun N.\} and Gregory Vandergrift and Swarup China and Yamamoto, \{Carlos I.\} and Marques, \{Rodrigo F. C.\} and Piazza, \{Rodolfo D.\} and Souza, \{Rodrigo A. F.\} and Theotonio Pauliquevis and Paulo Artaxo and Machado, \{Luiz A. T.\} and Heitor Evangelista and \{dos Santos-Silva\}, \{J{\'e}ssica C.\} and Sanja Potgieter-Vermaak and Raj, \{Subha S.\} and Christopher P{\"o}hlker and Jens Weber and Bettina Weber and Varanda, \{Laudemir C.\} and Ivan Kourtchev and Martin, \{Scot T.\} and Ulrich P{\"o}schl and Andreae, \{Meinrat O.\}",

note = "This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article{\textquoteright}s Creative Commons licence,unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article{\textquoteright}s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. ",

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doi = "10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4",

language = "English",

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T1 - Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes

AU - Godoi, Ricardo H. M.

AU - Hara, Emerson L. Y.

AU - Sebben, Bruna G.

AU - Taylor, Philip E.

AU - Castro e Silva, Dulcilena M.

AU - Brill, Sebastian

AU - Duo Filho, Valter B.

AU - Valdameri, Glaucio

AU - Huergo, Luciano F.

AU - Ferreira, Rosaria R.

AU - Dias-Junior, Cléo Q.

AU - Mantoani, Maurício C.

AU - Gonçalves, Fábio L. T.

AU - Albrecht, Rachel I.

AU - Lata, Nurun N.

AU - Vandergrift, Gregory

AU - China, Swarup

AU - Yamamoto, Carlos I.

AU - Marques, Rodrigo F. C.

AU - Piazza, Rodolfo D.

AU - Souza, Rodrigo A. F.

AU - Pauliquevis, Theotonio

AU - Artaxo, Paulo

AU - Machado, Luiz A. T.

AU - Evangelista, Heitor

AU - dos Santos-Silva, Jéssica C.

AU - Potgieter-Vermaak, Sanja

AU - Raj, Subha S.

AU - Pöhlker, Christopher

AU - Weber, Jens

AU - Weber, Bettina

AU - Varanda, Laudemir C.

AU - Kourtchev, Ivan

AU - Martin, Scot T.

AU - Pöschl, Ulrich

AU - Andreae, Meinrat O.

N1 - This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence,unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

PY - 2026/2/3

Y1 - 2026/2/3

N2 - Fog formation over tropical forests remains poorly characterized, despite its potential role in bioaerosol dispersion and ecosystem processes. Here, we analyzed fog samples collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory using flow cytometry and culture-based techniques to characterize viable microbial communities. Microbial cell concentrations varied over an order of magnitude across 13 fog events, reaching up to 8 × 104 cells per ml of fog water. Flow cytometry consistently detected metabolically active cells, while culturing and mass spectrometry-based identification yielded eight viable bacterial species and seven fungal taxa. The bacteria Serratia marcescens, Ralstonia pickettii and Sphingomonas paucimobilis exhibited seasonal variations in prevalence. The fungal species identified were primarily mesophilic saprophytes and endophytes, commonly associated with soil and plant surfaces. Our findings indicate that fog harbors viable microbes, including Serratia marcescens and Ralstonia pickettii, which may imply a relevance of fog for microbial dispersal, colonization and nutrient cycling in the Amazon rainforest.

AB - Fog formation over tropical forests remains poorly characterized, despite its potential role in bioaerosol dispersion and ecosystem processes. Here, we analyzed fog samples collected at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory using flow cytometry and culture-based techniques to characterize viable microbial communities. Microbial cell concentrations varied over an order of magnitude across 13 fog events, reaching up to 8 × 104 cells per ml of fog water. Flow cytometry consistently detected metabolically active cells, while culturing and mass spectrometry-based identification yielded eight viable bacterial species and seven fungal taxa. The bacteria Serratia marcescens, Ralstonia pickettii and Sphingomonas paucimobilis exhibited seasonal variations in prevalence. The fungal species identified were primarily mesophilic saprophytes and endophytes, commonly associated with soil and plant surfaces. Our findings indicate that fog harbors viable microbes, including Serratia marcescens and Ralstonia pickettii, which may imply a relevance of fog for microbial dispersal, colonization and nutrient cycling in the Amazon rainforest.

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4

DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-03233-4

M3 - Article

SN - 2662-4435

VL - 7

JO - Communications Earth & Environment

JF - Communications Earth & Environment

IS - 1

M1 - 223

ER -

Amazonian fog harbors viable microbes

Abstract

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