Using near-Real Time Bioaerosol e-DNA for the systemic characterisation of complex Ecological Communities in the Amazon: An EWS for Host-Pathogens microbial interactions

The emergence of zoonotic diseases poses a significant and growing global concern that requires the multidisciplinary approach to understanding how human activities can affect ecological relationships between biodiversity and pathogens, and the consequences this may have for public health and ecosystem conservation. Further improvements are still needed in developing diligent monitoring of disease surveillance data to adequately contain outbreaks and initiate timely response measures. eDNA in bioaerosols by means of shotgun metagenomics is showing up as an integrative novel technology to approach the integral ecosystem biodiversity, being able to reflect not only microbial composition but also their animal hosts, plants and humans. ECOAIR aims to 1) Analyse associations between hosts and pathogens by using eDNA from bioaerosols, focusing on biogeographic and anthropisation gradients in Amazonian ecosystems, and 2) Evaluate the ability of the eDNA analysis of bioaerosols as a novel Early Warning System. ECOAIR will adopt a gradient transect approach, targeting areas along natural gradients of environmental and ecological change, spanning from the lowland Amazon to Andean cloud forests in Peru. Additional monitoring will include a 12-month longitudinal sampling, reinforced in dry and rainy seasons, in wet markets in Iquitos (largest open markets in the Amazon) and rural sites (pristine forests and Indigenous communities). This method will enable the project to capture variations in key variables such as biodiversity, climate, and habitat types across a series of elevations (50-2,400 masl). By leveraging this approach, ECOAIR aims to explore the intricate relationships between biodiversity, host-pathogen interactions, and ecosystem health, providing valuable insights to guide conservation and disease management strategies. ECOAIR will also carry out an inventory, never before done, of microorganisms present in different Amazonian ecosystems. In paralel, intensive weekly airborne transmission monitoring will be carried out for two years at the Iquitos Hospital (regional health reference), the results of which will be cross-analysed with epidemiological records from the same hospital and the entire Loreto region. ECOAIR will link pathogens information in airborne samples with circulating diseases through the analysis and modelling of both the sylvatic and the anthropic epidemiology of human diseases bearing clinical relevance. The analysis of variations in known seasonal diseases will help to determine the accuracy of the eDNA analyses in bioaerosols to anticipate outbreaks. This project represents an unprecedented and groundbreaking approach to understanding microbial ecology in tropical rainforests of relevance to global microbiology. This novel approach through the eDNA, when controlled for potential biases, allows to address complex integrative ecological questions by making use of advanced statistic and mathematical modeling to develop analytical approaches central to the One Health theory. The viability of ECOAIR is guaranteed by the multidisciplinary nature of the Research Team, which covers a wide range of disciplines thanks to more than 20 years of experience working on airborne diseases, integrative ecology, environmental microbiology, prediction of climate phenomena, translational climate services for health, wildlife diseases, wildlife management and anthropogenic impacts on tropical forests.