Diversity and seasonal dynamics of airborne bacteria in the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China

The aim of this study was to analyze the phylogenetic composition of the bacterial community in the air at the Mogao Grottoes (Dunhuang, China) using a culture-dependent molecular approach. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified directly from the isolates with universally conserved and bacteria-specific rRNA gene primers. The PCR products were screened by restriction fragment length polymorphism, and representative rRNA gene sequences were determined and sequenced. A total of 19 bacteria genera were identified among 49 bacterial sequence types. Phylogenetic sequence analyses revealed high diversity within the bacterial community. The most predominant bacteria were Janthinobacterium (14.91%), Pseudomonas (13.40%), Bacillus (11.25%), Sphingomonas (11.21%), Micrococcus (10.31%), Microbacterium (6.92%), Caulobacter (6.31%), and Roseomonas (5.85%). The composition of bacterial communities differed greatly between different sites and at different times. The distribution of various bacteria was mainly affected by climatic parameters and human activities. These findings suggested that the opening of this cultural heritage site to visitors should be controlled and that maintaining the cave’s natural climatic conditions would aid the conservation and management of the grottoes’ paintings.