It is well known that the atmosphere is a conveyor of microorganisms, and that bacteria can act as ice or cloud condensation nuclei, but clouds have not been considered as a site where organisms can live and reproduce. We could show that bacteria in cloud droplets collected at high altitudes are actively growing and reproducing at temperatures at or below 0°C. Since ~60% of the earth surface is covered by clouds, cloud water should be considered as a microbial habitat.
bacteria
sampling conducted by Vienna University of Technology cryotransport to University of Innsbruck main methods: epifluorescence microscopy radiochemical uptake of radioactive labelled tracers (3H-thymidine and 14C-leucine incorporation to measure bacterial activity)