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Fouquier J, Schwartz T, Kelley ST. Rapid assemblage of diverse environmental fungal communities on public restroom floors. Indoor Air 2016; 26:869-879. [PMID: 26717555 DOI: 10.1111/ina.12279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/23/2015] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
An increasing proportion of humanity lives in urban environments where they spend most of their lives indoors. Recent molecular studies have shown that bacterial assemblages in built environments (BEs) are extremely diverse, but BE fungal diversity remains poorly understood. We applied culture-independent methods based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the fungal internal transcribed spacer to investigate the diversity and temporal dynamics of fungi in restrooms. Swab samples were collected weekly from three different surfaces in two public restrooms (male and female) in San Diego, CA, USA, over an 8-week period. DNA amplification and culturing methods both found that the floor samples had significantly higher fungal loads than other surfaces. NGS sequencing of floor fungal assemblages identified a total of 2550 unique phylotypes (~800 per sample), less than half of which were identifiable. Of the known fungi, the majority came from environmental sources and we found little evidence of known human skin fungi. Fungal assemblages reformed rapidly in a highly consistent manner, and the variance in the species diversity among samples was low. Overall, our study contributes to a better understanding of public restroom floor fungal communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Fouquier
- Graduate Program in Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - T Schwartz
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - S T Kelley
- Graduate Program in Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
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Meadow JF, Altrichter AE, Kembel SW, Kline J, Mhuireach G, Moriyama M, Northcutt D, O'Connor TK, Womack AM, Brown GZ, Green JL, Bohannan BJM. Indoor airborne bacterial communities are influenced by ventilation, occupancy, and outdoor air source. Indoor Air 2014; 24:41-8. [PMID: 23621155 PMCID: PMC4285785 DOI: 10.1111/ina.12047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 179] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2013] [Accepted: 04/18/2013] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Architects and engineers are beginning to consider a new dimension of indoor air: the structure and composition of airborne microbial communities. A first step in this emerging field is to understand the forces that shape the diversity of bioaerosols across space and time within the built environment. In an effort to elucidate the relative influences of three likely drivers of indoor bioaerosol diversity - variation in outdoor bioaerosols, ventilation strategy, and occupancy load - we conducted an intensive temporal study of indoor airborne bacterial communities in a high-traffic university building with a hybrid HVAC (mechanically and naturally ventilated) system. Indoor air communities closely tracked outdoor air communities, but human-associated bacterial genera were more than twice as abundant in indoor air compared with outdoor air. Ventilation had a demonstrated effect on indoor airborne bacterial community composition; changes in outdoor air communities were detected inside following a time lag associated with differing ventilation strategies relevant to modern building design. Our results indicate that both occupancy patterns and ventilation strategies are important for understanding airborne microbial community dynamics in the built environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- J F Meadow
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- J. F. Meadow, Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403 USA, Tel.: +406-370-7157, Fax: +541-346-2364, e-mail:
| | - A E Altrichter
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - S W Kembel
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of QuebecMontreal, QC, Canada
| | - J Kline
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - G Mhuireach
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - M Moriyama
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - D Northcutt
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - T K O'Connor
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of ArizonaTucson, AZ, USA
| | - A M Womack
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - G Z Brown
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, Department of Architecture, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
| | - J L Green
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
- Santa Fe InstituteSanta Fe, NM, USA
| | - B J M Bohannan
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of OregonEugene, OR, USA
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