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Analysis of institutional authors

Nuñez AAuthorRastrojo AAuthorGuantes RAuthor

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May 6, 2017
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Article

Validation of the Hirst-type spore trap for simultaneous monitoring of prokaryotic and eukaryotic biodiversity in urban air samples by NGS.

Publicated to:APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY. (): e00472-17 - 2017-01-01 (), DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00472-17

Authors: Núñez A, Amo de Paz G, Ferencova Z, Rastrojo A, Guantes R, García AM, Alcamí A, Gutiérrez-Bustillo AM, Moreno DA

Affiliations

Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain. - Author
Departamento de Biología Vegetal II, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain. - Author
Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. - Author
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII-UPM), Madrid, Spain diego.moreno@upm.es. - Author
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ETSII-UPM), Madrid, Spain. - Author
UAM, CSIC, Ctr Biol Mol Severo Ochoa, Madrid, Spain - Author
UCM, Dept Biol Vegetal 2, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Condensed Matter Phys, Fac Sci, Madrid, Spain - Author
UPM, ETSII, Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Pollen, fungi, and bacteria are the main microscopic biological entities present in outdoor air, causing allergy symptoms and disease transmission and having a significant role in atmosphere dynamics. Despite their relevance, a method for monitoring simultaneously these biological particles in metropolitan environments has not yet been developed. Here, we assessed the use of the Hirst-type spore trap to characterize the global airborne biota by high-throughput DNA sequencing, selecting regions of the 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer for the taxonomic assignment. We showed that aerobiological communities are well represented by this approach. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of two traps working synchronically compiled >87% of the total relative abundance for bacterial diversity collected in each sampler, >89% for fungi, and >97% for pollen. We found a good correspondence between traditional characterization by microscopy and genetic identification, obtaining more-accurate taxonomic assignments and detecting a greater diversity using the latter. We also demonstrated that DNA sequencing accurately detects differences in biodiversity between samples. We concluded that high-throughput DNA sequencing applied to aerobiological samples obtained with Hirst spore traps provides reliable results and can be easily implemented for monitoring prokaryotic and eukaryotic entities present in the air of urban areas.IMPORTANCE Detection, monitoring, and characterization of the wide diversity of biological entities present in the air are difficult tasks that require time and expertise in different disciplines. We have evaluated the use of the Hirst spore trap (an instrument broadly employed in aerobiological studies) to detect and identify these organisms by DNA-based analyses. Our results showed a consistent collection of DNA and a good concordance with traditional methods for identification, suggesting that these devices can be used as a tool for continuous monitoring of the airborne biodiversity, improving taxonomic resolution and characterization together. They are also suitable for acquiring novel DNA amplicon-based information in order to gain a better understanding of the biological particles present in a scarcely known environment such as the air.Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Keywords

Airborne biodiversityBioaerosol monitoringHirst-type spore trapMethods in aerobiologyNext-generation sequencing (ngs)

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2017, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Food Science. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.05. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.46 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 4.03 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-12, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 26
  • Scopus: 35
  • Europe PMC: 8

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 81.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 81 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (NUÑEZ HERNÁNDEZ, ANDRÉS) .