80% of airborne bacteria found in S. Korea, China overlap

More than 80 percent of airborne bacteria in South Korea and China overlap, a report said Monday, suggesting that the bacteria may be blowing to the Korean Peninsula along with Chinese microdust.

A team of researchers from Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Health measured fine dust concentrations in Seoul, Beijing and Japan's Nagasaki over a period of one year and analyzed them for bacterial DNA. Their findings were published in the latest edition of the journal Scientific Reports.

The study showed 83 percent of the total species of airborne bacteria were common to both Seoul and Beijing, higher than the 73 percent between Seoul and Nagasaki and 66 percent between Beijing and Nagasaki.

"The bacterial communities of Beijing and Seoul were much more similar to each other than any other two cities," the report said, noting that the highest similarity was observed between spring and fall.

Bacterial diversity was most correlated with the speed and frequency of prevailing northwesterly winds in the region, the report said.

Kim Ho, one of the researchers of the study, said the report is meaningful as it catalogs the diversity and similarity of bacteria in the microdust detected in the three Northeast Asian cities. He added, however, that it is inconclusive whether the meteorologically driven bacterial movements prove that the microorganisms in Korea and Japan have come from China. This subject requires further study, Kim said. (Yonhap)