Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
Research Article

Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow

Brent C. Christner, Rongman Cai, Cindy E. Morris, Kevin S. McCarter, Christine M. Foreman, Mark L. Skidmore, Scott N. Montross, and David C. Sands
  1. Departments of aBiological Sciences and
  2. bExperimental Statistics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803;
  3. cUnité de Pathologie Végétale UR407, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, F-84140 Montfavet, France; and
  4. dCenter for Biofilm Engineering and
  5. Departments of eLand Resources and Environmental Sciences,
  6. fEarth Sciences, and
  7. gPlant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717

See allHide authors and affiliations

PNAS December 2, 2008 105 (48) 18854-18859; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809816105
Brent C. Christner
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: xner@lsu.edu
Rongman Cai
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Cindy E. Morris
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kevin S. McCarter
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christine M. Foreman
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mark L. Skidmore
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Scott N. Montross
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David C. Sands
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  1. Communicated by P. Buford Price, Jr., University of California, Berkeley, CA, October 7, 2008 (received for review August 14, 2008)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Biological ice nucleators (IN) function as catalysts for freezing at relatively warm temperatures (warmer than −10 °C). We examined the concentration (per volume of liquid) and nature of IN in precipitation collected from Montana and Louisiana, the Alps and Pyrenees (France), Ross Island (Antarctica), and Yukon (Canada). The temperature of detectable ice-nucleating activity for more than half of the samples was ≥ −5 °C based on immersion freezing testing. Digestion of the samples with lysozyme (i.e., to hydrolyze bacterial cell walls) led to reductions in the frequency of freezing (0–100%); heat treatment greatly reduced (95% average) or completely eliminated ice nucleation at the measured conditions in every sample. These behaviors were consistent with the activity being bacterial and/or proteinaceous in origin. Statistical analysis revealed seasonal similarities between warm-temperature ice-nucleating activities in snow samples collected over 7 months in Montana. Multiple regression was used to construct models with biogeochemical data [major ions, total organic carbon (TOC), particle, and cell concentration] that were accurate in predicting the concentration of microbial cells and biological IN in precipitation based on the concentration of TOC, Ca2+, and NH4+, or TOC, cells, Ca2+, NH4+, K+, PO43−, SO42−, Cl−, and HCO3−. Our results indicate that biological IN are ubiquitous in precipitation and that for some geographic locations the activity and concentration of these particles is related to the season and precipitation chemistry. Thus, our research suggests that biological IN are widespread in the atmosphere and may affect meteorological processes that lead to precipitation.

  • atmosphere
  • climate
  • microbial dissemination
  • biological ice nuclei

Footnotes

  • 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: xner{at}lsu.edu
  • Author contributions: B.C.C., C.E.M., and D.C.S. designed research; B.C.C., R.C., and C.E.M. performed research; C.M.F., M.L.S., and S.N.M. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; B.C.C., R.C., and K.S.M. analyzed data; and B.C.C. wrote the paper.

  • ↵2Present address: Department of Plant Pathology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0809816105/DCSupplemental.

  • © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow
Brent C. Christner, Rongman Cai, Cindy E. Morris, Kevin S. McCarter, Christine M. Foreman, Mark L. Skidmore, Scott N. Montross, David C. Sands
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2008, 105 (48) 18854-18859; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809816105

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Geographic, seasonal, and precipitation chemistry influence on the abundance and activity of biological ice nucleators in rain and snow
Brent C. Christner, Rongman Cai, Cindy E. Morris, Kevin S. McCarter, Christine M. Foreman, Mark L. Skidmore, Scott N. Montross, David C. Sands
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2008, 105 (48) 18854-18859; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809816105
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 105 (48)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
    • Materials and Methods
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Smoke emanates from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant a few days after tsunami damage
Core Concept: Muography offers a new way to see inside a multitude of objects
Muons penetrate much further than X-rays, they do essentially zero damage, and they are provided for free by the cosmos.
Image credit: Science Source/Digital Globe.
Water from a faucet fills a glass.
News Feature: How “forever chemicals” might impair the immune system
Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov.
Venus flytrap captures a fly.
Journal Club: Venus flytrap mechanism could shed light on how plants sense touch
One protein seems to play a key role in touch sensitivity for flytraps and other meat-eating plants.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Kuttelvaserova Stuchelova.
Illustration of groups of people chatting
Exploring the length of human conversations
Adam Mastroianni and Daniel Gilbert explore why conversations almost never end when people want them to.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Panda bear hanging in a tree
How horse manure helps giant pandas tolerate cold
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Cozzarelli Prize
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates
  • FAQs
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Rights & Permissions
  • About
  • Contact

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490